3-D printers making comfortable hospital mask holders
DOVER-FOXCROFT — When 25-year-old Dennis Allen saw that other 3D printing enthusiasts across the world were lending their skills to the fight against COVID-19, the lifelong Dover-Foxcroft resident thought “well, why not put my Christmas gift to good use?” So in early April he began donating 3-D printed plastic facemask holders to his hometown hospital, Northern Light Mayo Hospital.
Across town Matt Jones was having the same idea, having seen a similar design online, “3-D printers use spools of plastic string to build different items layer by layer. In this case the end result is a reusable plastic band that goes at the back of the head and holds the elastic bands of the facemask away from the ears. Users can adjust the fit to make the masks more comfortable and effective.”
Photo courtesy of Northern Light Health
MAKING FACEMASK HOLDERS — Dennis Allen, right, pictured with Bill Sheppard, PA-C, along with Matt Jones have been using their 3-D printers to make plastic facemask holders for staff at Northern Light Mayo Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and Northern Light C. A. Dean Hospital in Greenville.
At the hospital Chief Medical Officer David McDermott, MD says the mask holders are a big hit, “The clinical masks come in one size, and they don’t fit everyone the same way. They can be too tight or too loose, and over the course of a long shift they can get uncomfortable and actually cause facial chafing and bruising. ”
“It didn’t click until I saw the design online that we could add something to the mask to make it better,” says Allen. “It makes sense that those elastics would really dig in behind people’s ears after a while.”
Both Allen and Jones have used the services of the hospital and feel if they can make a difference for the caregivers at Northern Light Mayo it’s a way to express their support and gratitude. “I have always been into community service, and I have the material to do the printing, ” says Allen.
Jones adds “There’s very little cost; it’s really just the time it takes to make them. That’s about nine mask holders every two hours.”
Between the two of them they have donated well over 100 of the mask holders, which have been distributed to staff at both Mayo and Northern Light C. A. Dean Hospital in Greenville.
There have been many acts of generosity and kindness from the community, according to the president of both hospitals Marie Vienneau, “Whether it’s sewing groups providing cloth masks for staff to take home and wear in the community, local restaurants bringing food for our tireless care providers, the local construction company that has donated and helped set up jersey barriers or these innovative 3-D printing experts, the outpouring of support means everything to us.“
Some of the community efforts have been especially moving, Vienneau says, “We arrived at work recently to find signs placed all over the property that said ‘Super Heros Wear Scrubs’ and later learned that the 12-year-old daughter of an employee had gone to all that work, to provide encouragement to her mother’s coworkers.”
“It feels good that people want to help,” says Dr. McDermott. “If there is a benefit to these scary times, it is that it is bringing us together, all of us doing our part to see our community through.”