Helping provide masks to healthcare workers

Hot Springs County High School science teacher, London Jenks, has taken matters into his own hands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is currently creating the N95 substitute masks needed by healthcare workers using 3D printing.

“There’s been lots of people posting the substitute masks online,” Jenks said. “I’m printing the particular model associated with the Billings Clinic. I’ve only printed a few copies using the Robotics Team’s 3D Printer.

“They were given to an employee of the hospital and Red Rocks Clinic on Tuesday to be evaluated. If they come back with a desire for more, I will work to print some more of them.”

Jenks said they are printed in plastic that should withstand several rounds of cleaning and sanitation.

They use a portion of a standard surgical mask as a filter and each surgical mask can make a handful of filters. He said this is helpful because surgical masks aren’t supposed to be used as part of the standard PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for coronaviruses that medical and EMS professionals would use.

This could potentially make it so those surgical masks could be turned into a mask similar to a N95.

“The biggest challenge will be making sure they are a proper fit for each person as a N95 mask is supposed to pass a fit test to make sure they have a proper seal,” Jenks said. “So, I would probably have to work on adjusting the model for people of different sizes.”

Jenks said at this point he can print 2-4 per day as he only has one printer.

In addition to Jenks’ plastic masks, others in town have been sewing away on fabric masks for the hospital, too, including Kathy Peterson and Kristen Norris.

These ladies have been using donated materials such as cotton fabric and elastic to create the masks as quickly as possible.

The idea of the public helping is amazing, but the efficacy of fabric masks is still under scrutiny.

Along with Jenks, Lasers Edge is also working on 3D printing of PPE masks for local medical personnel.