Work has been ongoing in GMIT and MET Technology Gateway (Medical and Engineering Technologies) to provide a vital response to the outbreak of Covid-19 in Ireland. Institute staff has been working around the clock to provide resources, assistance and much needed PPE to those providing essential services on the frontline, both within their local community and further afield.
With the global shortage of PPE, MET and GMIT have been working to provide a supply line of face shields to those front line workers. A team of five MET researchers, headed up by Dr Patrick Delassus, Academic Director at MET, are 3D printing face shields from an open source design. Production has now been ramped up with over 50 shields produced daily. MET Staff are making daily deliveries to local and rural Nursing Homes, providing a valuable resource to those who need them most.
The provision of ventilators to treat Covid-19 patients has been an ongoing issue for many hospitals. To support this need MET Technology Gateway has loaned its respiratory ventilator to University Hospital Galway (UHG). The ventilator, normally used for research and development purposes, will now provide a crucial additional resource to UHG in the vital treatment of patients. In addition to the above responses, a number of MET staff are also involved in contact tracing.
MET Technology Gateway will continue to provide these valuable services to the community throughout this period. Sharon White, MET Technology Gateway Manager says, “The response to COVID-19 requires a national effort; we are all in this together. The response to the initiative has been fantastic, with members of the public loaning us their 3D printers to help increase production. MET is dedicated to supporting our front line staff in any way that we can”.
The Covid-19 response from GMIT is currently ongoing, teams of staff, academics and researchers are continuing to provide a range of services, assistance and support to their community in this unprecedented time. More information on the GMIT Covid-19 response can be found here.
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