Giving back
Roosevelt Island residents team up to buy,
donate PPE to local hospital
BY GRANT LANCASTER
Residents of Roosevelt
Island banded together
as “Friends of Coler” to
donate PPE to the island’s Coler
Hospital on Thursday.
Assembly Member Rebecca
Seawright (D-76) and other residents
personally delivered boxes
of surgical masks, respirators and
gloves on Thursday morning.
The group received 600 surgical
masks and donations to buy
325 N95 and KN95 respirators,
400 gloves and three K90
respirators.
“Roosevelt Island residents
opened their hearts and responded
with great generosity and without
hesitation,” Seawright said.
Coler Hospital typically serves
patients in need of long-term care
and rehabilitation, but is treating
victims of the pandemic as well,
adding 350 beds March 27 to try
to keep up with the increased need.
PHOTO VIA GOOGLE MAPS
CUNY schools 3D-print PPE face shields
for NYC health workers
BY GRANT LANCASTER
Teams from colleges across
the CUNY system are
using 3D-printing technology
to create protective face
shields for medical workers as
the city faces a shortage of PPE
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Six colleges – The City College
of New York, Bronx Community
College, Queensborough Community
College, LaGuardia Community
College, New York City
College of Technology and The
Graduate Center – have turned
their campus’ 3D printers to making
laser-cut biodegradable plastic
face shields and plastic frames so
that workers can wear the shields.
These types of plastic face
shields are in common use in
New York City hospitals as they
provide more protection than a
standard surgical mask.
At City College, 14 3D-printers
can produce 300 of the plastic
headband-like frames every day. A
trio of City College staff ensured
that the designs were approved by
the National Institutes of Health
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
before getting permission to move
the printers in late March to Hack
Manhattan, a nonprofi t tech fi rm
that is producing PPE for NYCMakesPPE.
This organization
has delivered about 12,500 face
shields to date.
LaGuardia Community College
donated spools of biodegradable
plastic that can be used in the 3D
printers.
Community Colleges have
been fully involved in the effort,
with Bronx Community College
producing the parts for more than
200 face shields using seven 3D
printers and Queensborough
Community College expecting
the top 100 face shields made off
of a single 3D printer in April
alone.
“There is no greater cause at
the moment, and we are proud
to stand with New York City and
do what we can to help those on
the front lines of the war against
COVID-19,” said Chancellor Félix
V. Matos Rodríguez.
18 April 23, 2020 Schneps Media