Maker Task Force works to protect health-care workers

The COVID-19 WashU/BJC Maker Task Force has emerged as a hub for St. Louis-area makers to help health-care workers stay safe as they care for COVID-19 patients. The multidisciplinary group of doctors, engineers and makers is working to develop 14 product lines, including isolation gowns, surgical masks, face shields, emergency ventilators, ventilator replacement parts, N95 respirators and methods to disinfect them.

“With the surge of COVID-19 patients we’re expecting, we want to make sure doctors, nurses and other health-care providers do not run out of the PPE (personal protective equipment) and other supplies and equipment they need to do their jobs safely and take care of these patients well,” said Thomas M. Maddox, MD, professor of medicine and executive director of the BJC/WUSM Healthcare Innovation Lab.