FOCUS: Start printing masks now

By Janet Segal, special to Charleston Currents  | Here’s an idea: Local governments and the state — the county, its libraries, technical colleges and the like — should put idle 3-D printers to use now to print masks to keep our medical workers safe.

I am self-quarantining at home with two sewing machines, fabric, a pattern from the internet and I have been sewing facemasks. According to my nursing friends, these will be helpful for elderly patients and their caregivers and for people outside the home who must go shopping. But they will fall apart after multiple washings. They are well-made but not designed for long-term use.

Cloth masks made last week by Segal.

There are, however, masks that can stand up to repeated sterilizing — those made of plastic on 3-D printers. Where are those printers? In libraries, public schools, technical colleges and even in private homes. One person with enough filament could go into production immediately making medical-grade masks.

• MUSC has put the plans on its website.
  

Is this the best way to get masks to our front-line health care workers and safety officers? Of course not. But until major corporations re-tool and start making masks, we can make a small dent in the void.

The state, counties and school boards should step up, allocate funding for filament, electricity and staff time, and let more heroes combat the virus using machines that are sitting in locked up buildings.  It’s happening elsewhere. Why not here?

• In Colorado:  High school uses 3D printer make parts of medical masks (9 News)
• In New York:  One way to help strapped hospitals?  Print PPE using 3D printers (NPR)
• In Virginia: 13-year-old boy uses parents’ 3D printer to make, donate masks (WJLA)

Community activist Janet Segal of Daniel Island is former chair of the Charleston County Public Library.  Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com