OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – As healthcare workers are busy treating COVID-19 patients, they soon realized that their personal protective equipment was leading to an issue.
Healthcare workers who are wearing masks for up to 12 hours a day during the coronavirus pandemic started seeing injuries to their ears.
Recently, Metro Technology Centers delivered 475 mask bands to the Regional Medical Response System to alleviate the stress on their ears.
Janet Portwood, a STEM teacher, worked with Metro Tech’s Health Careers Director Shawna Blackburn to determine the need for the bands and worked with STEM students on the project.
“Student engagement is improved when they realize they can apply what is being learned in the classroom to real life events, and make a different for others,” Portwood said.
A bank of Dremel 3D printers from Metro Tech’s classroom lab are being used to print the bands. Additionally, two students used their home-based printers to aid in the production.
“Metro Tech understands what being a community partner means. From the beginning, when the need for this resource was identified they offered it straight away,” said RMRS Director Heather Yazdanipour.
Organizers say more mask bands are being produced and scheduled for additional deliveries.
