‘A labor of love’
Samantha O’Meara (left) and Reni Fodge, Certified Medical Assistants at Heritage Health, show off their new face shields. (Courtesy Photos)
Marty Mueller, Sam Armstrong and Erik Satren work on making face shields at Gizmo-CDA.
Courtesy photo
Erik Satren works on a face shield that will be worn by health care providers and caregivers throughout the region.
Gizmo-CDA creates face shields for health care providers, caregivers
The coronavirus pandemic has left medical providers facing shortages of critical medical equipment and supplies.
Ingenuity and initiative helped craft a solution for North Idaho providers and caregivers. Gizmo-CDA, an educational nonprofit, dropped off 50 face shields at Heritage Health this week. These face shields will be used to help protect providers and medical assistants at local clinics.
“We were extremely pleased by Gizmo’s generosity,” said Heritage Health CEO Mike Baker.
The face shields offer up an extra layer of protection against infection, says Dr. Peter Purrington, Heritage Health chief medical officer.
“Every little bit helps, and face shields are proven defenses against infection,” said Purrington. “Protecting our health care providers and caregivers from COVID-19 is critical.”
Gizmo-CDA founder and Executive Director Barb Mueller said her organization is making face shields for Hospice of North Idaho and the Panhandle Health District.
“We’ve been doing this around the community,” said Mueller. “It’s a labor of love.”
Gizmo designed the face shields, using computers and lasers to cut the high-grade plastic. They were assembled by Gizmo-CDA members. Each mask takes less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish.
Gizmo-CDA is known for teaching robotics, computer programming and high-tech manufacturing. The organization is a makerspace housed in the Hedlund Building at North Idaho College’s Coeur d’Alene campus and is part of the North Idaho College Venture Network, a hub of programs focused on entrepreneurship and business success.
