Coronavirus: Armies of volunteers across the UK are 3D printing face shields for the NHS School children, care home patients and boy scouts are among those producing personal protective equipment (PPE)

Portsmouth-based engineer Ben Bissett first realised the true value of his new extracurricular job 3D printing face shields for frontline hospital staff when a friend of his picked one up for his wife.

“He’s a very big, really very scary looking, typical Portsmouth kind of guy – and he was stood at my gate literally in tears,” Mr Bisset told i.

“He was thanking me for something that he couldn’t do – which was trying to protect his wife. And as soon as I saw that, it really hit home. It’s great that I can do something more than just staying in doors to help,” said the 40 year old father of two.

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Mr Bissett is currently printing 50 face shields a day having switched working hours to manage the kids so that he now works much later into the night, staying up till 3am each morning, with his two printers constantly going in the background – churning out around 2 face shields an hour each.

He is one of thousands of volunteers around the country – from boy scouts and school children to care home residents – who are printing out vital equipment for staff at hospitals, GPs, pharmacies, paramedics and social-care practices.

3D printing is still a relatively new technology that can produce all sorts of objects, from precision equipment to fairly straightforward face shields. Guided by detailed computer designs, these objects are built up, or printed, layer by layer, into the finished product.

And the technique may have found its perfect application – producing badly-needed personal protective equipment (PPE) for the NHS.

Shortage of equipment

Massive worldwide demand has led to a huge shortage of masks, visors, goggles and other equipment that is essential for frontline health workers.

But traditional manufacturers can only produce so many pieces of equipment – which in many cases can only be used a few times before they need to be thrown away – which is where the armies of 3D-printing members of the public come in.

Fifteen-year old Rudra Nakade, from Milton Keynes, designed and created full face plastic visors using a 3D printer one Sunday evening during lockdown.

The son of a GP, he has set up a Gofundme page to raise money to “scale up production” due to increased demand. “We need plenty of supplies of materials to print, sanitize and package. Without these donations we would not be able to keep up with demand when the NHS staff really need it,” he said this week.

Care home protection

Meanwhile, a disabled man has 3D printed nearly 40 face masks for residents and staff at his care home in the market town of Beverley in East Yorkshire. No-one in the home – Apple Tree House – has developed coronavirus symptoms and Richard Wilson, 32, who has cerebral palsy, hopes to keep it that way.

3DCrowd UK, a website set up by palliative-medicine doctor James Coxon, to bring together amateur printers and hospitals, said 345,000 face shields have been requested – with 80,000 in production by 5,500 volunteers.

Once volunteers have registered on the 3DCrowd UK website, they are sent instructions on how to produce face shield parts.

These are then bagged up and sent to a hub to be assembled. A clear plastic film is also added at this stage.

The ultimate boy scout

Over in Canada, twelve-year old Canadian Quinn Calander may just be the ultimate boy scout after designing and printing more than 1,000 ear guards to stop the security straps from face masks rubbing on the wearer’s ears.

His campaign went viral when he posted photos of the straps and their designs on Facebook – encouraging people the world over to follow the lead of the boy, from Maple Ridge, British Columbia.

“In one week I’ve personally produced over 1300 straps, 1215 have gone to a few hospitals in my region where they seem to be really appreciated,” Quinn said.

“Quinn answered a request from the local hospitals for help with creating ear guards…He got busy on his 3D printer,” Quinn’s mom Heather wrote on Facebook.