If you can make a donut box, you can make face shields to protect medical professionals on the frontlines.
By Ed Zumbiel, Zumbiel Packaging, Board Member, PPC
President Trump has warned of a painful two weeks ahead as our nation grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic. With medical professionals facing shortages of crucial protective supplies, I’m urging everyone in our community to help by donating face shields to those first responders who are working tirelessly to protect us.
After speaking with the New York State Department of Health on phone last week, I realized the true severity of the situation in this country: medical professionals are risking their lives for us, yet they can’t procure face shields at any price. Zumbiel Packaging committed to providing 200,000 paperboard/poly face shields, and although grateful, the Dept. of Health said they could use even more.
Now think about that need across our country and our world. It’s time to pitch in.
Paperboard Companies are Coming Together Across the Globe
I’m proud to be involved with Fiber Shield, an international coalition of paperboard packaging companies and supply-chain partners who are pooling their collective resources and production capabilities to supply single-use face shields to medical professionals and first responders.
Our goal is to protect the medical community that we depend upon to protect us, and to date, we have participants from 20 different countries in Asia, Europe, South America, and North America.
We hope to blanket North America with face shields, as we’re getting hit as hard as anybody right now.
How You Can Manufacture Face Shields
If you can make a donut box, you can make a face shield. They’re easy to manufacture, and the Fiber Shield.Org website offers simple designs that only require cutting and windowing—no glue.
The easiest shield to produce is made of two pieces, a headband and a locking, clip-on face shield. From personal experience, I recommend using at least a two-mil gauge poly on the windows because you get better speeds with the heavier material. Lightweight poly will, however, work just fine.
Click here for spec sheets and layouts of various face shield designs.
Join the Effort
For Packaging Converters
Please let us know if your company would like to be listed as a supplier of paperboard face shields, and we will be sure to include a link to your website. We have packaging companies from 20 countries participating and hope that we can get many more from the United States and Canada.
The patent-pending designs are available to anyone who agrees to donate 100,000 face shields to medical professionals in need.
For Board/Substrate Suppliers
Fiber Shield has contacted substrate suppliers and will provide links on the face shield website to those mills who are willing to provide discounted board for shield donations. Contact us to get involved.
Learn more about the initiative in this Fiber Shield Press Release