truebluemeandyou:

How to Make a Face Mask for Hospitals and Medical Centers

Hospitals and medical centers across the country are asking sewers to make face masks to protect out health workers. You can google “how to sew face masks for hospitals” to find out where fabric masks are being requested.

Stillwater Medical Center is asking sewers to follow the face mask pattern from buttoncounter.com here.

From Deaconess Health System:

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Citing shortages, Deaconess Health System, including Henderson’s Methodist Health, has asked the public to sew face masks for staff fighting coronavirus.

“This does follow CDC protocols that you can find on their website that if all other supplies are not available, that handmade masks that meet certain criteria are acceptable,” Deaconess spokeswoman Becca Scott said.

The release with the video, pattern and instructions was posted to the Deaconess Facebook page Thursday morning and is available at www.deaconess.com/masks. A PDF of the pattern is available here and embedded at the bottom of this article.  

Deaconess has “a sample video” about how to make the masks, which Scott said will be sterilized when they come in.

From Forbes here:

Additional Resources for Open Source or Volunteer COVID-19 Projects:

One of my favorite how-to sites is Instructables. The DIY Cloth Face Mask has almost 100,000 views. It is a step-by-step instruction for those who need it. Kudos to ashevillejm.

In 2006, CDC released a Simple Respiratory Mask design using heavyweight t-shirts in its Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. More of an academic post, but some ideas in it.

A Facebook group was formed last week: Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies. It is worth a visit — in just a few short days there are 20,000-plus members and volunteers.

If you are looking for some research and street-level testing of various materials for DIY mask-making, this post from Smart Air Filters is exceptional: What Are The Best Materials for Making DIY Masks? It also includes a few great links at the end of it.