The number of COVID-19 cases is currently increasing, with an update on April 2, 2020 stating 1,677 positive cases in 31 provinces. The increasing outbreak of COVID-19 has an impact on the scarcity of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for medical personnel in Indonesia. Therefore, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) has started to produce Face Shields as a tool for medical personnel to handle COVID-19 patients. The tools will be widely distributed to several hospitals, especially PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital in Indonesia.
When contacted on Wednesday (1/4) Head of the UMY Mechanical Engineering Study Program, Berli Plenary Kamiel, ST, M.Eng.Sc., Ph.D said that the Face Shield production started because there the tool was not widely available. “Medical personnel need around 300 thousand Face Shields, and currently there the tool is very scarce and is unavailable for medical personnel protection. Therefore, Mechanical Engineering lecturers of UMY, under the coordination of the Head of the Plastic Technology Laboratory Cahyo Budiyantoro, M.Sc, initiated the production of the equipment involving several students as volunteers in the mass production stage,” he explained.
Furthermore, Berli explained the materials that will be used for the production of Face Shield with the frame being made of Polypropylene plastic, a material that is resistant to chemical solutions and can be sterilized with heat and the Shield part being made from acrylic, which is cheap and disposable. “The frame was made with an injection molding machine in the UMY plastic technology lab, while Shield was purchased in sheet form. And at the moment it is still in the stage of molding at the UMY fabrication lab, so God willing, next week we will begin mass production,” he explained.
Berli said that they are able to produce up to 600 PPE devices per day, and they will continue to produce to meet the needs of the medical community with an initial production target of 14000 products. The products will be distributed free of charge to medical staff in several hospitals, especially PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital. ” the PPE will be donated to medical personnel in hospitals, especially the PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital network,” he concluded. (Sofia)
