Update on the DMS PPE response plan (Updated)

Hello members,
I know it’s been a bit of a contentious issue lately, so I wanted to clear the air on what DMS is doing to support the production of PPE and stop the spread of Covid-19.

We have worked closely with the Scottish Rite hospital and they have provided us guidance on what they can accept. In response to their guidance, we have chosen to move our 3d printers to the Polyprinter facility. This allows us to use our hardware to contribute to the cause while maintaining a clean and safe environment. As part of the farm, they will be able to produce far more products than we can reliably produce at the space.

The initial round of face shields will be donated to the Scottish Rite hospital, we will asses the routing of the donations as the situation and needs change.

For those makers that want to contribute, we have two ways you can help.

  1. If you have a 3d printer or laser at home and want to work on producing PPE for donation go here and see how DMS can help you:
    https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/crowd-sourced-building-of-nih-approved-face-shields/70605?u=mrjimmy
    For people that sew and want to help we recommend you go to the Mask Makers Facebook group to get designs and instructions to sew masks at home. These masks are in high demand not only with people in the medical field but with delivery drivers and grocery clerks. These masks can help directly in your neighborhood.

*For the moment we have enough supplies donated for the next 2 weeks of production. Thanks for the support!

When we need to refill we will need transparency paper or clear binder divider plastic sheets like these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015ZXIL2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To the question as to why DMS did not seek an exemption to reopen there are a number of factors.

  1. We have no full-time staff, so we can’t manage the facility in a controlled-access situation.
  2. Our printers can do more good as part of a farm where they receive intensive maintenance and support and have plenty of filament.
  3. Many of our members have sewing equipment at home, the demand for our small number of sewing machines isn’t high enough to justify the risk involved in opening.
  4. Let’s face it, Makers aren’t often the best at following rules. As we’ve seen with the posts here even the most well-intentioned people are having trouble following the basic CDC guidelines for social distancing. We don’t have the staff to police the members and take temperatures before entering the building. And while some of you may be comfortable risking your life for this, we aren’t comfortable allowing you to risk other people’s lives for this. It is vitally important that all of us follow the CDC guidelines for social distancing to help flatten the curve and reduce the deadly effects of this disease.

We will post updates as the donations are printed and shipped to the hospital. Rest assured that the Dallas Makerspace is leveraging our tools to help fight the spread of Covid-19 and keeping our members safe and healthy.
Thanks, James

43 Likes

Update:
Today we donated another 1400 n95 masks to parkland hospital. This brings our total donation to a little over 7,000 n95 masks.

We also have begun the process of sterilization for the current round of 3d printed face shields. We may be able to begin boxing tomorrow.

Thanks, James

21 Likes