PPE shortage
The Government has faced criticism over the lack of a PPE stockpile, which was highlighted in a contingency planning exercise in 2016.
Educators in drive to help plug PPE gap DESIGN and Technology (D&T) teachers in Suffolk have joined an unprecedented national voluntary effort to support NHS and other health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic by making them protective face shields. NEU members Beverly and Aidan Maloney are 3D printing elements of the shield from their home while Ollie Millington is laser cutting a different design using polypropylene sheets and PVC. In less than two weeks they produced and delivered 170 protective shields to 26 different local services – including GP surgeries, pharmacies and care homes. ‘Using the skills we have to help’ Beverly told Educate: “Like so many of the D&T community and others across the country, we’re utilising the skills we have. “Of course this is no replacement for the real thing, but for many who are asking for the shields, it is ‘something more than nothing’.” Materials were donated and extra help soon came from local art teacher Rhiannon Blackman. “We know the NHS simply does not have access to the levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) it needs, so some people are delighted to have additional protection,” Beverly said. “Some NHS and key worker staff have been sharing or reusing equipment
Beverly and Adrian Maloney wearing their own visors built from a design made public in Sweden
Nik Jones with some of the visors made by staff at University Technical College South Durham
so any help is appreciated, and our shields will be used in conjunction with paper masks.” A healthcare worker in primary care said: “I am humbled and greatly appreciative of the support from the local community. This generous donation will help to maintain our safety and we would like to say a huge thank you.” The pair have been wearing PPE themselves while making the shields, sanitising each one as it is finished before boxing up and letting it stand for three days. Beverly pledged: “We’ll carry on making them for as long as they are required.”
Engineering college creates 1,500 visors Staff at UTC South Durham, which specialises in engineering, have produced and donated 1,500 visors to local hospitals, care homes, GP surgeries and district nurses. They raised thousands of pounds to finance the initiative. “We felt that there must be something useful we could contribute, and when our head of engineering managed to adapt a headband design to allow us to make basic visors, we found a way to support our community,” said Nik Jones, NEU joint district secretary, Durham.
Student teacher at the heart of community effort PGCE student Rachel Morely (left) tells Max Watson about the work she’s doing with a Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK group. This time last year Rachel Morely was working for a law firm, but she decided to retrain as a teacher: “I just wanted to do something rewarding, something I felt was useful,” she says. Halfway through her teacher training course, schools closed and all student placements were cancelled. So she now spends her spare time volunteering with Covid-19 Mutual Aid in Sydenham, south east London.
“I was really enjoying being in the school environment, and just thought: how can I continue being in the community at this time? Vulnerable people have to isolate in a much more extreme way than others. There was a lot of coverage in the media asking how these people are going to get food and prescriptions.” So she found her local group online and realised that having a DBS check in place makes her even more useful. “It means you can have face-to-face time with vulnerable groups.” Delivering food and medicines Within a week Rachel had delivered food and prescriptions to four different people, most of them two or three times. “It’s time-consuming, but it’s good
because you’re building relationships. There’s one lady who I deliver food for, and I’ll stand on her drive while she’s at her door and we’ll have a little chat. It’s about the loneliness as well as knowing someone’s there who could help that day in an emergency if needed.” Rachel acknowledges not everyone can help. “It’s OK for me to go out and about, at a safe distance. If you have kids or someone elderly living with you, you’d obviously feel less comfortable doing that.” She encourages fellow NEU members to sign up. “It’s a great community effort, I’m so impressed by their professionalism. Without this, we’d feel a bit hopeless and helpless. This is a great way for people to help others.”
Visit covidmutualaid.org
educate Your magazine from the National Education Union (NEU)
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