Do you have access to a 3D printer? Would you like to help to supply PPE to the HSE?

A team of engineers all over Ireland would like to facilitate individuals with the ability to 3D print at home, to supply PPE (particularly ‘frames’ of protection visors) to the HSE.

The Covid-19 Virtual Factory, led by Chartered Engineer Sean Walsh and Benchspace Cork, will centralise collection, kit frames with visors and elastic restraints, and pack them to donate to the HSE supply chain.  

A network of over 200  printers has now been established, but we urgently need more to meet demand by community nurses, carers, those working in retirement homes, care centres and hospitals.

Overview of process

  1. Register as a Printer via the Signup Form.
  2. Join the Discord Production Support Group.
  3. Download Print Files for the N3DPs face shield design
  4. Ask for Advice if you need it from the Production Support Group (they are very friendly!).
  5. Claim a Batch of Files to Print from the Production Tracker.
  6. Start Printing!!
  7. Bag up Completed Print Runs (i.e. bag up all parts printed at the end of each print run).
    Wear a mask and gloves when handling parts
  8. Update the Production Tracker to “Completed”.
    The production tracker automatically informs our collection team that your batch is ready for collection once you mark it as completed. 
  9. Wait for Shipping/Collection - The Blood Bike Network & Southern 4x4 Response are supporting pickups. Our collection team will communicate directly with you about this. Parts will be sterilised, assembled and distributed to HSE sites from our central location.

Additional Opportunities

If you do not have access to a 3D printer but would like to support COVID-19 innovation and contribute to new projects to support healthcare workers and patients, engineers are encouraged to collaborate and innovate on the OSV-X Slack channel.

A fundraising page has been established to support the supply of materials. For every €10 donated , our project partners can provide PPE to 5 people for 1 day. Click here to access the Go Fund Me page, managed and organised by Benchspace, Cork

Contact Information:

For more information on the Covid-19 Virtual Factory, please contact Sean Walsh and the Benchspace team via: ppe@benchspacecork.ie