A simple but potentially life-saving product is being shipped to the First Coast to help protect health care workers amid the COVID19 pandemic.
A group of friends who work in the ER in Phoenix, Arizona have been making Plexiglas boxes to serve as a barrier between doctors and patients.
“It started off as how can we protect ourselves,” said Brandon Lawrence, an Emergency Medicine Physician in Phoenix. “Then I’m like no, we’re doing this nationally.”
Lawrence and his friends began manufacturing “intubation boxes,” where a patient can lay their heads within the box, and doctors can treat them through two arm holes without being exposed to particles the patient is exhaling.
“Sometimes people crash right in front of you and you don’t have time to put on all of the protective gear,” Lawrence said. “So we just throw the box on them and go with it.”
It took two days for the group to build a few for themselves, then got a local mattress manufacturer on board to help create more to send throughout the city.
The boxes are $150 each. Lawrence and his friends aren’t making a profit from these boxes.
The cost covers the Plexiglas, manufacturing and shipping. Donations from private institutions and a GoFundMe have poured in to get these boxes shipped nationwide within a few days.
Ten of those are being sent to Jacksonville’s Mayo Clinic.
“I’m just connecting the dots and I think God is really in control,” said Judi Zitiello, Lawrence’s aunt.
When Zitiello heard of the work Lawrence was doing in Arizona, she wanted to bring the intubation boxes to the First Coast.
“This is such a simple thing and it can save lives now,” Zitiello said.
Zitiello’s nonprofit, Champions for Hope, normally funds research for pancreatic cancer. But with this pandemic, they wanted to reach into their pockets to make sure healthcare providers in our area are safe. The organization purchased 10 boxes.
“This is really a great way our community can participate in this epidemic,” said Dr. Michael Wallace from Mayo Clinic. “I think we feel a little helpless and wonder what we can do.”
This isn’t a top-secret product. Lawrence and his friends are trying to make sure anyone who is able to make these boxes can get their hands on the blueprint to do it themselves.
If you’d like to donate to the manufacturing and distribution of these intubation boxes, you can donate through the GoFundMe.
The boxes are expected to be delivered to the Mayo Clinic by Thursday.
