Personal Protective Equipment Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

With A Little Help From Technology, W.Va. Is Stepping Up To Produce Critical Protective Gear

As the coronavirus continues to spread in West Virginia, the need for personal protective equipment, or PPE, has increased as well. But more than two dozen organizations across West Virginia are working to provide this critical equipment to frontline workers.

3D Printing Personal Protective Equipment

For nearly a month, Shepherd University’s Fine Arts, Science, Technology, Engineering, Educational Resource (FASTEnER) lab has been 3D printing face shields for frontline emergency and medical workers in the Eastern Panhandle. And since the start of April, the lab has also been printing N95 respirator masks for the West Virginia National Guard to distribute across the state.

“The need has been overwhelming, so I’ve been trying to come in as much as possible to fill these orders,” said Kay Dartt, Shepherd University’s 3D fabrication manager.

Dartt and just two other volunteers have been working almost every day to produce face shields and N95 masks. Dartt said she keeps the team small to limit how many people are in and out of the lab and to follow social distancing guidelines.

“When I get in in the morning, the first thing I do is I go around and collect all the prints that printed overnight,” she said. “And usually those are things that will take a little bit longer to print.”

The lab has more than 30 3D printers. Most were loaned from Berkeley and Jefferson County Schools to help meet the need.

Kay Dartt monitors a 3D printer at Shepherd University.

During the day, Dartt typically prints face shields since they don’t take as long to make. But overnight, she has the printers making N95 masks, which can take up to eight hours to print two on a single printer.

3D printers work by following a model that was built in a computer aided drawing program. The program creates a path for the printer to follow as it brings the model to life.

“And it needs that path because what the 3D printer is doing is it is extruding a very thin line of plastic as it travels along that path,” she said.

The printer traces back and forth, layering plastic one tiny line at a time until the object begins to materialize. Dartt said her lab can comfortably produce 400 to 500 face shields and about 60 N95 masks a week.

To date, Dartt said they’ve printed more than 2,000 face shields for the local area and 120 N95 masks for the West Virginia National Guard.

3D Printing To Silicone Molds

But in the past week, Kay Dartt’s efforts at Shepherd University to 3D print N95 masks has evolved. A recent design made at the school exceeded “the standards of an N95 mask,” according to Maj. Gen. Jim Hoyer, Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard in a recent press conference.

Shepherd is no longer 3D printing N95 masks but is instead now casting them, based on that design. These N95 masks are made from a 2-part urethane plastic that is poured into a form that hardens into its final shape. The school is providing training to members of the National Guard so they can produce their own.

Dartt said in a press release from the university that using molds allows production of up to 70 or 100 masks per hour, depending on how many molds and equipment are available.

The school is now only using its 3D printers to produce face shields for the local community.

Groups Across W.Va. Come Together To Produce PPE

Shepherd University is one of at least 27 schools, organizations and private entities across West Virginia working with the West Virginia National Guard to 3D print personal protective equipment.

“There’s not just a national shortage of PPE. There’s a global shortage of PPE,” said Maj. Gen. Hoyer.

Hoyer said the initiative to produce PPE is being paid for through the state’s contingency fund. He said West Virginia is not experiencing the high level of shortages that some other states are, but he said we have to be prepared.

“I think right now with the great work that people are doing in West Virginia, we’re breaking that curve,” he said. “But we’ve got to be prepared for the worst, and we’ve got to be prepared if a second wave hits us harder than the first wave, like in some places around the world. We’ve got to be prepared for that.”

Right now, the United States is in its first round of coronavirus cases, but a second surge of cases could be possible, if social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home orders are not adhered to and lifted too soon. Some countries in Asia that tried to relax social distancing guidelines after getting on top of the virus are now experiencing a second influx of cases. That has concerned public health officials.

But Shepherd University, West Virginia University, Marshall, West Virginia State and more, including several community and technical colleges are using this partnership with the National Guard to 3D print N95 masks to try and stay ahead of a possible second surge. Even the Boys and Girls Club of Parkersburg is helping out.

Some of the more than 30 3D printers at Shepherd University.

Hoyer said once these entities create the masks, they’re picked up by the Guard and sent to a facility in Charleston to be fitted with filters and sanitized.

Hoyer said the Guard can sanitize up to 1,500 N95 masks a week, while Charleston Area Medical Center, which has also partnered for the initiative, can sanitize 4,300 per day. Hoyer said the 3D printed masks are quality controlled, have been tested and are 99 percent as effective as traditional ones.

For Hoyer, getting the state involved in producing PPE goes beyond supplying critical protective gear to frontline workers, though. He said it’s also about manufacturing these items locally rather than overseas.

“Not only does that help West Virginia, but we can push that out to the rest of the country and the world, and it’s an example of people finally understanding that West Virginia is a pretty damn good place to be. We’re pretty innovative. We’re pretty creative,” he said.

And there’s more than 3D printed N95 masks being made.

Hoyer said the National Guard is also partnering with several other entities across the state to make other protective gear, including reusable surgical masks and gowns, full body suits and boots. Additionally, he said there’s work happening in West Virginia to create a ventilator that could support two individuals instead of one.

Coronavirus Takes A Terrible Toll On Ohio Valley Nursing Homes

The coronavirus is taking a terrible toll on nursing homes in the Ohio Valley. Well over a thousand residents and staff at nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia have tested positive for coronavirus, and dozens have died from COVID-19.

Residents in these facilities are already more vulnerable, and in many cases, the facilities were running low on protective equipment even before the pandemic hit.

Figures supplied Tuesday by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear showed 217 residents and 127 staff members had tested positive for coronavirus at 33 facilities around the state; 33 residents and one staff member have died.

Betsy Johnson is the president of theKentucky Association of Healthcare Facilities, a trade association that represents nursing facilities across the state.

She said facilities in the region were already running low on personal protective equipment after a significant flu season.

“So we were utilizing our supplies for the flu season and then this hit,” she said. “And of course, the supply chain got broken because a lot of this equipment is made in China and so we were not getting the supplies shipped to the United States.”

Johnson said most of the protective equipment has been given to local hospitals, leaving nursing homes in continued short supply. She said there have been some donations that have helped, but they need additional equipment to keep the region’s most vulnerable population safe from this new virus.

She said facility managers have to be careful where they purchase the protective equipment because they have encountered people who have tried to sell fraudulent equipment.

“But we’ve had several companies come forward and I would hope that they are not committing fraud, but you never know,” she said. “And so you have to be really careful because unfortunately, people take advantage of other people during difficult times.”

Johnson said most of the PPE has been given to local hospitals, leaving nursing homes in continued short supply.

Kentucky has limited visitation at nursing homes except for family members of residents who are receiving end of life care.

In Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine issued an order Monday requiring long-term care facilities to notify families within 24 hours if someone at the facility has tested positive for COVID-19.

In West Virginia, several facilities have reported coronavirus cases. Two nursing homes in Wayne and Morgantown have together confirmed more than 90 cases among staff and residents. The association representing nursing homes in the stateissued a plea last week for more protective equipment. “Many facilities have been trying for weeks to find alternative sources, even paying outrageous prices, only to see the orders go unfulfilled or indefinitely delayed,” Marty Wright, CEO of the West Virginia Health Care Association wrote.

Misty Vantrease, a partner withKentucky ElderLaw, a firm that represents seniors and their families, said not being able to see residents in a long-term care facility presents its own challenges. She said she’s been hearing concerns from family members about not being able to see their loved ones and know how well they’re being cared for.

“One of the big ways that when we have a loved one who is in some type of care, that we make sure that they’re being taken care of that all their needs are being met is laying eyes on them,” she said.

Vantrease said the biggest challenge right now is communication between the facilities and families, which is where attorneys can step in and advocate for those residents. But, she said that’s challenging too because technology can be a difficult barrier and many residents suffer from hearing loss.

Nursing Home Reporting Virus Outbreak After Weekend Death

A West Virginia nursing home already linked to a coronavirus death is now reporting 66 positive cases.

At least 36 residents and 30 staffers of the Wayne Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have the virus, according to a statement posted on the facility’s social media late Monday. Ten tests are still pending.

The nursing home on Saturday said a patient with the virus and several other underlying medical conditions had died. No other details were released.

A statement from the center said it is working with local health officials and taking necessary precautions to prevent further spread. A spokesman for the facility declined to comment further Tuesday.

The outbreak at the Wayne center is the latest in a string of cases tied to nursing homes, where a trade group leader said supplies are running dangerously low. Two deaths and around 30 positives have been reported at the Sundale Nursing Home in Morgantown and local health officials in Charleston have said Eastbrook Center has eight cases and Brookdale Charleston Gardens has one.

Statewide, nine people have died and at least 640 people have tested positive for the virus. Testing remains limited and state officials admit their case count lags behind the actual total as results pour in from counties around the state.

Gov. Jim Justice has strengthened existing safety restrictions in 12 hot spot counties, directing local officials to limit gatherings to five people and set maximum occupancy rules for stores. The Republican governor has previously ordered a state of emergency, directed all nonessential businesses to close, shuttered schools until at least April 30 and rescheduled the primary election from May 12 to June 9.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks, and the overwhelming majority of people recover. But people with severe cases can need respirators to survive, and with infections spreading exponentially, many hospitals are bracing for coming waves of patients.

W.Va.’s Nursing Homes, Long-Term Facilities Running Low On Protective Gear, Group Warns

A trade group that represents West Virginia’s nursing homes and assisted living communities is raising the alarm that the state’s more than 20,000 healthcare workers that work in long-term care facilities may soon run out of personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns.

In a Friday press release, the West Virginia Health Care Association said there are nearly 12,000 people in long-term care facilities, like nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the Mountain State. As the pandemic continues, essential protective gear is becoming harder to find in West Virginia and nationwide.

“We’re starting to see a lot of the supply chains dry up where the facilities and health care providers on the front lines are having difficulty getting new personal protective equipment or PPE,” said West Virginia Health Care Association CEO Martin Wright.

In many states, including West Virginia, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have been ground zero for COVID-19 outbreaks. Morgantown’s Sundale Nursing Home reports 10 staff, three contractors and 23 patients have contracted the virus. Three patients have died.

Wright praised the response from both citizenswho are donating homemade masks and of the West Virginia National Guard, which is trying to find innovative ways to make and reuse PPE.

“It’s absolutely helpful, and there’s been a tremendous outpouring from communities that have gone to individual facilities and nursing homes and assisted livings and made homemade masks, and it’s heartwarming to see and it definitely has an impact,” he said. “But the bigger issue is there’s greater needs out there statewide that as this continues to go on, in terms of a crisis, we’re going to have to meet those needs.”

Gowns and gloves, for example, are essential equipment in short supply. Wright stressed getting more protective gear is essential to protecting both healthcare workers and residents.

Last week, the Associated Press reported congressional records from the House Committee on Oversight and Reform showed big gaps in the amount of PPE West Virginia requested and what it obtained from the federal government.