PHOENIX — By now you’ve read the daunting statistics and heard about the numerous deaths related to COVID-19, but we are already hearing about good things happening as a result of the crisis.
This is about human kindness and the determination to step up to the plate when lives depend on it, literally.
Up until recently, Abrazo Health Emergency Department Doctors Brandon Lawrence and Benjamin Reeser were using clear trash bags to shield themselves from patients during the intubation process.
The process of intubating a patient involves sticking a tube through the mouth and into the airway. The exposure to germs during this process is very high and one of the more risky encounters doctors are experiencing during this pandemic.
“With everything that we’re doing with social distancing and not shaking hands, all that kinda stuff, if you were to be right in the face of somebody, especially this far, and you’re causing them to bring out saliva and particles, I mean, you might as well be making out with them,” explained Dr. Reeser.
The Intubation Box essentially sits over a patient's head with hand holes on either side.
Doctors Lawrence and Reeser reached out to Dr. Hsien Yung Lai in Taiwan who originated the idea of the box and got the plans.
Dr. Reeser was able design a prototype with the help of Phoenix based Tuft & Needle.
“I took it into the hospital the next day. It was a night and day difference from trying to protect ourselves with trash bags." said Dr. Reeser. "Now we have this box. It sits over the head of the patient.”
The boxes shield health care workers from any particles that may come out while working on the patient. After the boxes are used, they can be cleaned with bleach or alcohol to be used again.
Each box costs about $160 to make, so it is not only inexpensive, but it's reusable.
Over the last few months, they’ve made almost 500 boxes that have been shipped to hospitals all over the country. They continue to see an outpour of requests.
Phoenix based manufacturers Urban Plough, Tuft & Needle and Ortho Spine Partners are producing the Intubation Boxes. So, the doctors have donated 70 boxes to Arizona hospitals and about 500 boxes across the country.
“We’re still wearing all the PPE that we would normally be using. This is just another protective barrier,” said Dr. Reeser.
You can find directions on how to build your own Intubation boxes and a link to request one here.
You can donate to help provide Intubation Boxes to hospitals here.
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