In these special times of urgent need to maximise the personal protection of the special teams in high professionally risk groups, medical staff and the staff of elderly homes, amongst others. Facing exceptional difficulties in receiving certified protection equipment, this project and initiative aimed for designing and producing low-cost, higher-volume production in minimum time -using only one machine of the Faculty of Design and Art’s workshops (Laser cutter). The project is being carried out by the Faculty of Design and Arts of the University of Bolzano.

The PPE UNIBZ SHIELD S1 is a safety visor that provides protection for the operator’s face (eyes and mucous membranes) from droplets or splashes of potentially dangerous liquid according to EN 166:2001 (section 7.2.4). The PPE may also be worn over other PPEs providing protection for potentially dangerous aerosols (such as goggles and/or filter face masks) in order to provide additional protection from droplets or splashes of liquid.

The shield is a is a further evolution of different open-source masks but is finally an original design made Professor Nitzan Cohen and his team to fit best the COVID-19 specific  situation and optimize it from all aspects. The project was further on done with consultation of the medical direction of Bressanone/Brixen’s hospital, the South Tyrolean Civil Protection and Red Cross. The face shield is solely made of single sheet of acrylic material (PETG 0,5mm), eliminating the need for any other part (3d printed, etc.). The shield as such is designed for multiple uses, is more durable and more resistant to different disinfection chemicals and methods.

By now 3000 shields have been produced and delivered, 1500 for the staff of all South Tyrol hospitals and 1500 for the staff of the elderly peoples homes of South Tyrol.

More information can be found in the pdf attached and here.