A pair of Perry brothers delivered their first batch of free face shields Friday morning to paramedics with the Dallas County EMS and medical personnel with the Dallas County Hospital and Family Medicine Clinic, shields they fabricated on their own 3-D printers.
Justus Williams and Will Lundbohum said they made the donation in support of the county’s front-line health care workers who face risks from the novel coronavirus global pandemic.
“This is our way of giving back,” Williams said as he dropped of the first set of 50 face shields at the Perry headquarters of the Dallas County EMS. Another 50 are in the works, he said.
“The design came from some shareware,” Williams said, “so it was just a matter of supplying the material and the plastic film for the face screens.”
Dallas County EMS Director Mike Thomason gratefully accepted the face shields, which his department promptly shared with the Dallas County Hospital and Family Medicine Clinic.
Thomason said the face shields are a sturdier form of the disposable shields his crews have been using when treating possible COVID-19 cases. The face shields and face masks are essential items of personal protective equipment for emergency responders.
“We’ve had four of our 45 paramedics and EMTs out for 14-day quarantines,” Thomason said, “but they are all back to work now.” Nationwide, about 20% of COVID-19 infections involve health care personnel.
Thomason was joined by Paramedics Curt Crawford and Ken Buelt and Dallas County Hospital and Family Medicine Clinic Marketing Manager Macinzie McFarland in thanking Williams and Lundbohum for their generosity.
