Doctors in Prince George, B.C., are testing locally made intubation boxes to be used while working with COVID-19 patients.

Anesthesiologist Dr. Jamil Akhtar, with the help of fellow physicians Dr. M.J. Slabbert and Dr. Laura Brough, put together the first prototype of the plexiglass box on April 6 at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia.

Akhtar hopes to have his prototypes assessed by a group of anesthesiologists and critical care physicians, and ready to go as soon as possible. Because physicians are busy with meetings and constantly changing guidelines in hospitals, he is unsure when that might be.

"We're trying to expedite the process," he told CBC Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk. "We are doing our best to be fit to fight back with tools that will protect our staff and health-care workers."

Intubation is the process of inserting a tube through the mouth and into the windpipe so a patient can be placed on a ventilator to assist with breathing. To perform the procedure, a medical practitioner has to get very close to the patient's mouth, increasing the risk of airborne infection by the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The intubation box was originally designed by Dr. Hsien Yung Lan in Taiwan, and thanks to open-source data sharing, people around the world have been able to build their own intubation boxes.

The box sits above the head and shoulders of the patient, with holes for the physician's hands to go in and use tools to perform intubation.

The intubation box is meant to be used in conjunction with personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves. (Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

Akhtar describes the boxes as a second layer of personal protective equipment (PPE) meant to be used in conjunction with masks and gloves.

But he said if facilities are running short on masks and gloves, it could be an option as a first line of defence to protect those working with infected patients.

The difference between this box and PPE like gloves and masks is that this can be cleaned and used again, rather than thrown away after one use.

The boxes are built by local company PG Plastics and the project is being funded by Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation.

"It's a very simple, inexpensive, easy-to-produce device," Akhtar said. "It can be built anywhere."

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