Health & Fitness

Library Uses 3D Printers To Produce Gear For Front-Line Workers

The Central Rappahannock Regional Library is assisting medical workers and law enforcement by 3D-printing personal protective equipment.

The Central Rappahannock Regional Library is assisting medical workers and law enforcement in the Fredericksburg area by 3D-printing personal protective equipment.
The Central Rappahannock Regional Library is assisting medical workers and law enforcement in the Fredericksburg area by 3D-printing personal protective equipment. (Lucie Peclova/Shutterstock)

FREDERICKSBURG, VA —The Central Rappahannock Regional Library is assisting medical workers and law enforcement in the Fredericksburg area and Northern Neck by 3D-printing personal protective equipment for LifeCare Medical Transports and Westmoreland County sheriff and correctional officers.

The library system has set up all 12 of its 3D printers to produce ear guards for surgical masks, face shields and face masks. To date, library staff members have printed 182 ear guards and 115 face shields.

This week, the library began printing face masks for Westmoreland County, which the county said is the greater need. CRRL staff also are continuing to print face shields and ear guards.

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Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, people around the world have been using 3D printers to meet a shortage of N-95 masks and face shields for hospital staff and other front-lines workers.

What's a 3D printer? Looking a little like a futuristic sewing machine, a 3D printer uses computer-aided design to create 3D objects from a variety of materials, like molten plastic. Inside the machine, a giant spool of plastic thread feeds into a heated nozzle that crosses a plate in three dimensions, laying the molten plastic down to form the object. 3D printers require filament, the plastic thread that feeds into the machine from a reel.

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Face shields produced by a 3D printer can offer some protection against respiratory droplets that transmit the virus. The shields typically consist of a plastic visor piece that is worn across the forehead and a sheet of disposable polyethylene. A typical 3D printer can produce about a dozen face shields a day.

The North Stafford, Stafford, Fredericksburg and Rappahannock Rotary Clubs, along with Dr. Sam Smart, Matern Staffing and International Auto Specialist, donated funds for purchasing filament and supplies to make the personal protective equipment. Nathan Sekinger, librarian at Gayle Middle School in Stafford County, consulted on the digital files and supplies needed to make the supplies.

The CRRL serves as the library system for the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, Westmoreland, Caroline, and the city of Fredericksburg.


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