Motivated by the desire to help those in need of protection on the front lines of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals, organizations, and universities across the country began, through isolated initiatives, to manufacture medical supplies such as personal protective equipment and technological devices. The products are being used to urgently supply local hospitals that are suffering from a shortage of equipment on the market due to the surge in demand caused by the global health crisis.
To organize the network of these initiatives and connect those who produce with those who need it, was launched, about a month ago, the Protege BR platform. The platform already features more than 200 producer initiatives, the so-called Makers, and helps with the connection to hospitals, healthcare professionals, and health departments that need the equipment
The network connects supply producers ranging from the simplest ones, such as homemade masks, protective goggles, aprons, gowns, and acetate face shields, called face shield, even sophisticated parts like ventilators, laryngoscopes, and breathing tubes.
Platform creator and coordinator Gabriela Agustini explains that the idea is to provide greater agility in production and distribution, given the large number of isolated initiatives.
“These actions came from citizens, universities, independent groups, social organizations, collectives of people who, driven by generosity, began to produce and deliver to a nearby hospital, to the family of a doctor friend, a neighborhood nurse, from the community.
From the platform, the Makers connect, exchange information and best practices about what they are producing, in addition to choosing who to deliver the product to and collecting donations. Gabriela highlights that an important part of the platform is the availability of files and processes to manufacture the supplies.
“You might be producing, for example, a face shield, and you discover that with the same structure, the same machines and materials, you can make personal protective goggles, and that this consumes less material, is cheaper and can meet a large demand from people who are in need. You can access this file on the platform, send it to the machine and start producing.
She explains that all the protocols made available are tested and approved by scientific and health institutions, as well as hospitals. Similar examples of medical supply production also occurred in Italy, with the 3D printer production of valves for electronic respirators, and the adaptation of large automotive factories in the United States to manufacture ventilators.
From underwear to overcoats
The adaptation of the production line also happens on a local scale and for simpler products. That is what Carina Carmo did, who owns an underwear manufacturing business in Nova Iguaçu, in the Baixada Fluminense region, called Oiti. With the factory closed because of the pandemic and no way to continue paying the 40 employees, Carina looked for alternatives and found in Protege BR the opportunity to produce medical gowns.
“We wouldn't have been able to keep going much longer without production. My initial idea was to make cloth masks, but I decided to talk to Gabriela Agustini and she said that the health undersecretary mentioned that 400 ICU beds were closed due to a lack of gowns, the medical apron. We went to find out what it was, how to make it, and started studying. We made three prototypes and sent them to the Health Department. Two were approved.
Carina explains that the orders started arriving as soon as the prototype was approved, in early April. Oiti manufactured 30,000 non-woven gowns, ordered by União Rio, which bought the supply to donate to public hospitals. According to her, at the time, the product was scarce on the market, as it was imported from China. Now, however, demand has started to decrease and global production to normalize.
“We don't have any more orders for coats, and some of our old clients have started contacting us, so we are hoping that the factory will reopen. It was very good, for sure, but nobody profited from that work. It was just to keep us on our feet and avoid having to lay anyone off.
3D printers
In Aracaju, Stephanie Kamarry, a professor and researcher at the Federal Institute of Sergipe, managed to mobilize 104 volunteers and 60 3D printers to produce goggles and face shields. As the coordinator of the "Cuidar – de quem cuida da gente" project, she explains that 6,000 face shields, 3,000 protective goggles, and 2,000 cloth masks were produced.
“The idea came from a post by Gabriela Agustini; they were one of the first to bring the idea to Brazil. I talked a lot with her and in three days I gathered the volunteers, launched a fundraising campaign, called upon the state's makers, and we started production. We set up a structure that allowed us to operate like a large decentralized factory.
Stephanie points out that all the medical supplies were donated. “We ran a fundraising campaign and managed to raise R$ 35,000 and 150 kilograms of PLA, the material used in 3D printers.” The prototype was validated by two hospitals in Sergipe. “Demand was very high, and we made daily deliveries to serve the entire state. Now it has decreased; today it’s easier to buy ready-made products, and they’re cheaper, too.”.
The researcher states that the team is working on diving masks adapted for hospital use, also using 3D printers. The goal is to deliver 200 units to the state's public healthcare network.
“We have concluded the first phase and are starting a new front of work, with greater potential to save lives and relieve the burden on the system. Now we are adapting diving masks to be used as CPAP masks in hospitals, meaning with positive pressure on the lung, and it can be connected to hospital tubing or even a cylinder. With a filter connected to the expiration outlet, it reduces the chance of the patient contaminating people who are nearby.
Donations
An entity that mediated the delivery of materials through the Protege BR platform was Redes da Maré, which distributed protective eyewear donated by the PUC Rio Design Laboratory to the Basic Health Units in the Maré Complex, in the north zone of Rio de Janeiro.
According to Luna Arouca, coordinator of Redes da Maré, 400 pairs of glasses were distributed to healthcare professionals working in the favela, at a time when there was a shortage of materials on the market.
“It is a very important initiative, not only because of the cost of this equipment and their emergency need, but also because of the shortage itself that occurred for a period, because there was a lot of demand.
She highlights the role of collectives and civil society in the face of the pandemic, which contribute to keeping healthcare professionals safe and enabling them to do their work in a protected manner.
“The possibility of having these equipment and being able to distribute them to the health units allowed professionals to be protected and also to protect the population, thus ensuring correct care in the face of the pandemic situation.”
SOURCE:
ISTOÉ DINHEIRO
