As personal protective equipment dwindles for health workers fighting covid-19, a local business is stepping up and creating solutions from scratch.
On Tuesday, Tarrant County Medical Society received 96 face masks. A day prior, Cooks Children’s Hospital received 28 face masks.
The face masks were all created using a 3D printer and donated by Joshua and Kaytlyn Peterson of JP Tek Services, a Fort Worth-based computer repair and 3D printing service provider.
“The physicians of Tarrant County Medical Society appreciate the thoughtfulness of the Petersons,” said Brian Swift, executive vice president and CEO of Tarrant County Medical Society.
The Petersons plan to produce at least more than 500 facemasks.
JP Tek said supplies to create 3D print additional 600 facemasks are on its way, as well as another 3D printer to speed up the production.
in their home using all the materials they had in immediate supply.
“We want to be able to support our private physician practices who are still seeing patients every day and this this act of kindness is appreciated. We appreciate any and all donations of PPE.”
JP Tek first started printing the face masks last week and successfully made about 100 units.
The company has made its facemask design free and open to the public, in hopes that others with the ability to print the files can produce the much-needed PPE easily.
To create more face masks, JP Tek is in need of and asking for donations of PETG filament, a kind of durable and flexible material used for 3D printing. Other filament types will not hold up the sanitation process used. They are also short of 8.5×11 transparency film supplies.
“We can only produce so many masks, so we hope that others will see what we are doing and join us,” said Joshua Peterson. “We just want to do anything we can to help.”