With the sudden explosion of Covid-19 cases across the U.S., hospitals quickly fell short of necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). As a result, healthcare workers had no choice but to resort to reusing old face shields and face masks, attempting to wipe down the equipment to prevent cross-contamination, or even committing to work without any PPE at hand. Such methods put our healthcare workers in danger, as the doctors and nurses have direct contact with the virus without the proper protection to mitigate contamination.
To combat the shortage of PPE in our local hospitals and clinics, Students for Hospitals—a team of Bay Area high school students—designed a protective face shield to support our healthcare workers. Face shields, which should remain strictly single-use to prevent contamination, often cost around five dollars each, and are also in low supply. Wanting to address this issue, we aspire to provide healthcare workers access to protective equipment as they diagnose and treat patients.
Moreover, in addition to our overarching goal to provide face shields to healthcare workers and help ensure their protection against Covid-19, members of Students for Hospitals have the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in areas such as collaboration, leadership, and communication under the various branches of our team. Essentially, by participating in the organization, high school students gain real-world experience by applying practical skills to aid our community.
As of June, we have raised over 2,000 dollars and donated over 2,000 face shields to hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes across San Jose, and we aim to produce 300 more face shields in the coming week.