When fourth-year Queen’s University medical student Matt Snow’s clinical rotation ended just before his last week because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he knew he wanted to find a way to help out his friends and colleagues working on the health-care front lines.
Snow, along with two other Queen’s students, got in touch with an ICU doctor at Kingston General Hospital and a technician at their university’s Clinical Simulation Centre. The group of five 3D printed their first personal protective equipment (PPE) prototypes, and then partnered with colleges, libraries, research labs, businesses and community members to make more.
Now, just over a month later, the group, called 3D PPE Kingston, has overseen the printing of thousands of pieces of equipment for front-line health-care workers in Kingston, Ont.
Watch the video above to see how these students are making a difference during the pandemic.