Major safety/comfort problems fixed with Prusa shield  

Major safety/comfort problems fixed with Prusa shield

Hi,

Thanks to Prusa and others for coming up with many good face shield designs for 3D printing. The RC line is a good start. It looks good, prints fast, and uses little plastic. It is certainly welcomed over the alternative (nothing). 

I happen to be an ICU nurse who works with Covid patients for 12+ hours a day. We're all grateful for the 3D printed shields out there, but they have several issues that needed improvement (no offense). 

I took the RC Prusa design and heavily modified it.  Focus was on improved comfort and safety. I'm not making them to sell, just to print what I can for our hospital as the current shields are a mix of bad to worse... My design is at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4312120 (Disclaimer: print and use at own risk. This design is not approved by any Bureaucratic BS organization who's never personally set foot in an ICU.)

The biggest problem with the other shields out there is they're either a head band or glasses type. That's not ideal for comfort or functionally staying in place. No matter how light weight the shield. So I fixed that problem by allowing two straps to offload the need for tight head bands just to stay in place. Also extended the arms further back to also relieve the need for tight straps. Believe it or not, many nurses report even the super light shields with barely a tight headband give the nurses headaches... or maybe it's the situation we're in...

Second, the others are WAY TO THIN. I beefed up the design.

Three, the head bands can't be sterilized when they're cloth or Velcro, or elastic... At least not convincingly or leaving the strap soaking wet. This design allows you to use any disposable 1 inch wide rubber tourniquets as straps. The holes are 1 inch wide. Every hospital has them in bulk and they're just a couple cents worth each instead of using elastic or Velcro that is nearly impossible to buy at the moment anyway.

Fourth. The forehead cushioning is not needed. it only harbors germs. we are wearing disposable head coverings that are cushion enough:)

Lastly, the other shields out there offer no side protection and thus make using the shield only useful when directly facing the infected patient. This is not realistic when you have a highly contagious patient constantly coughing droplets in the air and landing all over the side of your exposed N95 mask, your face, and eyes. My design fixes this massive problem with extended face shield wings to protect the eyes and the N95 mask better.

You need 12 inch wide plastic and it should be at least 9.5 inches tall.... people say the useless plastic strip on the bottom of some designs is required.... but at this time, in my home state of Minnesota, they are allowing nurses to bring in their own personal protective equipment whether it is approved by some Bureaucratic council or not.  So again, use at your risk. Feel free to copy design ideas or the whole file as long as you are giving the shields away FREE.  I put my Minnesota Nurses Association Union inscription on it to discourage resellers. If they are donated the nurses won't care about it. 

Thanks for checking it out.... I didn't have any clear plastic for the shield. If anyone knows a CURRENT source to get it for a decent price and ASAP that would be appreciated.

-Matt Behning