At one point, more than 30% of U.S. healthcare workers had two weeks of N95 face masks, considered the standard for protection, remaining, and 22% had none at all, according to GetUsPPE.org, a grassroots organization working to source personal protective equipment for U.S. healthcare providers.
Dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease specialist and public health expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, projected if 96 million Americans will contract the virus, 1.9 million of those will need a stay in a hospital intensive care unit, and a million of those will need a ventilator.
To supplement the shortage, private citizens and non-medical businesses and organizations are adapting their own manufacturing processes, such as 3D printing—also known as additive manufacturing—to meet demand.
Elsewhere, the European Association for Additive Manufacturing launched a call to action to the non-medical 3D-printing sector to help in the printing of valves, masks and other crucial medical material in the fight against COVID-19.
Filip Geerts, director general of the European association, says such issues can be mitigated, as long as regulators openly communicate with manufacturers, large and small, about hospitals’ specific needs; ease patent and Customs restrictions; and facilitate provision of printing plans.
