KC printing company is making face shields. Can they protect hospital staff, others?
With many Kansas City businesses shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Largeprinting.com CEO Scott Burnham wanted to keep his workers busy.
Instead of being forced to make layoffs, Burnham and creative director Tom Krempa brainstormed ways to use the equipment they already had.
Their solution: Face shields.
“I would say the inspiration stems from trying to keep everybody working and busy,” Burnham said. “When we saw some of the bills passed and tried to create medical equipment, we just started kicking around the idea that we might be able to do something.”
With a nationwide shortage of medical supplies like protective masks, they figured they could create a similar product that could be sold and used for the general public or medical professionals alike.
Largeprinting.com, a digital design company based out of KC, prints large backdrops, banners and other items during normal operations. Krempa said they have equipment like a large digital cutter, almost like a knife, which allows them to quickly create these face shields. It’s not 3D printing, but makes face shields in minutes.
“That’s how the equipment’s meant to be utilized,” Burnham said. “It’s fast equipment. It’s big and expensive equipment, but that’s what it does.”
Many other companies around the world are on similar pages, utilizing preexisting means to create medical equipment. Bauer Hockey got authorization from the Quebec government to make protective visors for doctors and nurses instead of NHL players. Another KC-area company is looking to manufacture face shields as well, with plans of also getting input from health professionals.
Tina Burnham, director or marketing at Largeprinting.com, said they have sold about 465 face shields. That includes an order to an Austin, Texas hospital and the general public in the Kansas City area.
But can these face shields be utilized by doctors and nurses at local hospitals?
Currently, the University of Kansas Health System is not accepting homemade face masks, the ones often made from materials like cotton.
Steve Stites, chief medical officer for the University of Kansas Health System, said unless face masks are made at a biologic grade and from specific material, they cannot be used by medical professionals.
A spokesperson for the University of Kansas Health System said they’re still evaluating how face shields like Largeprinting.com’s could be used in the future.
Even if homemade face masks are used by the general public, Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control at KU, said it gives people a sense of false security.
“When people have masks on, I think they feel secure,” Hawkinson said. “And maybe then do not do the standard the things we are trying to reinforce, such as continuing to wash your hands and not putting your hands around your face, especially when you have to manipulate the mask.”
During the prototype process, Krempa said they took input from medical professionals.
“We’re just doing what we can,” he said. “We’re not saying that they’re gonna do anything. ... But I talked to nurses and also got feedback from them.”
Burnham said he wasn’t sure the exact cost of creating each face shield. He’s had to outsource material from around the United States and they’re still making tweaks in the final product.
As of Thursday afternoon, the face shields are listed at $12 each and are discounted for bundled purchases. Burnham said they arrived at that price by looking online and trying to be competitive. When it comes to the bottom line, he said “we’re going to hope we don’t lose money when we’ve got them out there.”
“I saw the need for it on the news and stuff,” Krempa said. “I thought I could reproduce this in our shop, something we have materials for. … It took about three or four different prototypes before it was the right one.”