First Ontario-made medical masks ready for use, says premier

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Ontario-made medical masks are rolling of the line at a GTA auto parts manufacturer thanks in part to engineers at McMaster University.

The ASTM Level 3 masks made by The Woodbridge Group were tested by teams at the university to tweak design and performance.

On Tuesday morning Premier Doug Ford was on hand in Woodbridge, Ont. to personally pick up the first load of 1,000.

"These masks will be made here in the millions," he said during a media update later in the day.

"This is what the workshop of Canada looks like. Once we get Ontario's manufacturing powerhouse going it's a machine that can't be stopped."

The masks still need to be certified before they can be used by all frontline healthcare workers whose supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) is dwindling. But the premier's office says Health Canada has approved Woodbridge's plans to start production.

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) previously told CBC that Woodbridge, which typically makes headliners and load floors, along with foam seating and other parts and materials for the automotive industry, worked to re-tool its production lines after he called for the industry to step up in the fight against COVID-19.

Volpe hand-delivered the first mask prototypes to John Preston, associate dean of research and external relations with McMaster's faculty of engineering, in a Ziploc bag just 11 days ago.

"We've been working on this around the clock," Volpe wrote on Twitter, adding the efforts of McMaster were critical in making production possible. "The reinforcements are arriving!"

Preston echoed his enthusiasm.

"Fabulous to see this happening!" he tweeted. "Special thanks ... to [Volpe and the APMA] for leadership, inspiration and pulling people together."

The university also celebrated the first batch of masks.

"Bravo," cheered the McMaster Twitter account, congratulating its faculty of engineering and Woodbridge.

Premier says Ontario must be self-sufficient
The masks, which are breathable and resistant to fluids, will be produced at Woodbridge's factories in the Vaughan area and Kitchener.

The company is seeking certification from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, according to the premier's office, which said it's hopeful the masks will be approved as being at the same level as sought-after N95 respirators.

Ford has repeatedly spoken out about the fact Ontario needs to produce its own PPE so the province won't have to rely on foreign companies during future crises.

On Tuesday he said the Woodbridge masks represent the beginning of Ontario moving toward that independence.

"We need to look after ourselves. We need to be self-sufficient," the premier explained. "We have the ability to make anything here in Ontario."
 
老毛老早说了,自己动手,丰衣足食。
 
Ontario-made medical masks are rolling of the line at a GTA auto parts manufacturer thanks in part to engineers at McMaster University.

The ASTM Level 3 masks made by The Woodbridge Group were tested by teams at the university to tweak design and performance.

On Tuesday morning Premier Doug Ford was on hand in Woodbridge, Ont. to personally pick up the first load of 1,000.

"These masks will be made here in the millions," he said during a media update later in the day.

"This is what the workshop of Canada looks like. Once we get Ontario's manufacturing powerhouse going it's a machine that can't be stopped."

The masks still need to be certified before they can be used by all frontline healthcare workers whose supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) is dwindling. But the premier's office says Health Canada has approved Woodbridge's plans to start production.

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association (APMA) previously told CBC that Woodbridge, which typically makes headliners and load floors, along with foam seating and other parts and materials for the automotive industry, worked to re-tool its production lines after he called for the industry to step up in the fight against COVID-19.

Volpe hand-delivered the first mask prototypes to John Preston, associate dean of research and external relations with McMaster's faculty of engineering, in a Ziploc bag just 11 days ago.

"We've been working on this around the clock," Volpe wrote on Twitter, adding the efforts of McMaster were critical in making production possible. "The reinforcements are arriving!"

Preston echoed his enthusiasm.

"Fabulous to see this happening!" he tweeted. "Special thanks ... to [Volpe and the APMA] for leadership, inspiration and pulling people together."

The university also celebrated the first batch of masks.

"Bravo," cheered the McMaster Twitter account, congratulating its faculty of engineering and Woodbridge.

Premier says Ontario must be self-sufficient
The masks, which are breathable and resistant to fluids, will be produced at Woodbridge's factories in the Vaughan area and Kitchener.

The company is seeking certification from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, according to the premier's office, which said it's hopeful the masks will be approved as being at the same level as sought-after N95 respirators.

Ford has repeatedly spoken out about the fact Ontario needs to produce its own PPE so the province won't have to rely on foreign companies during future crises.

On Tuesday he said the Woodbridge masks represent the beginning of Ontario moving toward that independence.

"We need to look after ourselves. We need to be self-sufficient," the premier explained. "We have the ability to make anything here in Ontario."
这下该鼓励戴口罩了吧。
 
合着2月份在大统华买的口罩不是医用啊
 
制造业回流,好事啊
别啥都靠别人
 
这个更牛了,NSASA标准的面罩。

Egan: They send stuff to Mars, work in outer space. Yes, local firms can make masks, shields

Kelly Egan
Publishing date:
22 hours ago • 4 minute read

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OTTAWA --April 6, 2020. B-Con Engineering has changed its usual product line to make face shields for people in the medical field. Founder Brian Creber, seen here, hopes to be shipping about 500 shields by next week. WAYNE CUDDINGTON / Postmedia

Brian Creber’s company has designed and built optical systems that NASA sent to Mars, operating remotely in harsh environments like -80 C, some 225 million kilometres away.

So yes, in a pinch, it could design and build a face shield to protect frontline workers in a global pandemic.

ADGA Group, meanwhile, does high-end security and defence work, including projects on military bases and in outer space, and has some 670 employees and consultants across Canada. So yes, with backs against the wall, they could design and build their own masks for essential workers in vulnerable workplaces.

These are but two examples of local firms that have, like cotton-and-string mask-makers at home, used their engineering expertise to help solve, or at least work around, a shortage in PPE, or personal protective equipment, now in scarce supply in many places around the world.

The firm that Creber founded in 1988, B-Con Engineering, has retooled about half of its 10-person workforce to turn out clear plastic shields for nurses, doctors and health-care providers in the throes of fighting COVID-19.

“We have to,” he said Monday, when asked about his motivation. “Everyone who can, should try to help. Even if the only thing you can do is stay at home and stay away from people, everybody’s got to be involved.”

Using the company’s plant near West Hunt Club and Prince of Wales, B-Con hopes to soon turn out about 500 masks a week. It has already shipped a batch out to a midwife group and to an agency that does in-home ventilator care.

Creber, 68, an engineering physicist, sees everyone from nurses to police officers to grocery store clerks as potential users. He’s selling the masks for $20 each in batches of 20, a price that really only covers his costs. And the best feature? The masks are washable, therefore reusable.

The project was, in a way, a stroke of luck. Creber plays the bass drum in the RCMP’s pipe band, where he came to know an ER nurse at The Ottawa Hospital. When he asked what he could contribute in the form of help, she replied: PPE, the kit of shields, masks, gowns and gloves that are essential in up-close settings.

Within days, B-Con had come up with a plan to procure the plastic shields and make many of the other 10 parts with a 3-D printer. As the prototype was improved — the nurse provided valuable feedback — more printers were added to the network, to the point that roughly 14 are available to make plastic parts.

(Several university students were enlisted.)

The result? With some fine-tuning on the adjustable strap and swap-out on the interior foam, B-Con expects to turn out about 150 shields this week and possibly 400 next week. Relying only on word-of-mouth, inquiries are already coming in from the U.S. and the U.K., though Creber expects the shields to be mostly used locally.

1586295228146.png

Fran Gagnon FILE PHOTO / POSTMEDIA
ADGA chief executive Fran Gagnon said the company has staff who are required to go into sites, like military bases, or federal penitentiaries, where there have been outbreaks of coronavirus. But where was their PPE? Very little was commercially available.

So, smart heads came together. A 3-D printer was used to make a mask that resembled the N-95 commonly used in health-care settings. But what of the filtering system? The tinkerers went to work, adapting cotton makeup removal pads and the material used in furnace filters. By combining the two, the mask now had a removable filtering system and a moulded plastic apparatus that fit tight on the skin.

As an added feature, the masks were packaged in a kit that had about two weeks worth of filters. About 80 were made and they’re being sent to ADGA staff who work in potentially vulnerable locations.

“We’ve got some incredibly brilliant people,” said Gagnon. “And they did this on their own time, burning the midnight oil when they got home.”

The masks also went out with an instruction sheet and a caution that they weren’t likely as effective as the regular N95s.

“You have been provided with a 3D Printed mask as a “better than nothing” alternative to the N95 respirator. This mask is reusable, washable but should preferably not be shared with your co-workers. Please refer to Canada Public Health safety guidelines about the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Prevention and risks.”

A number of face shields were also made. Anything not used by staff has been donated, said Gagnon.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” she said, of the worker innovation. “Full stop. I’m incredibly proud of our team.”

ADGA is not traditionally a company that “makes” things, she said. But, big and small, it is not business as usual anywhere.

“We’re not a manufacturing company. So we can’t switch and do this, right? Well, what do you know? I guess we can.”

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-291-6265 or email kegan@postmedia.com

 
为安省点赞!好久没有听到一点让人省心的消息。
 
奋发图强,自力更生,发展生产,重建家园是哪个总理说的?
 
希望下一步会鼓励大家都带口罩。咱们先带起来。现有一小批医用口罩现货,质量绝对好。现在还有10多盒,想要的话请加群联系群主。
mmqrcode1586094929414.png
 
不只是物资储备,是不是过后要多储备些医护人员,降低学医的门槛,打破某些人对医疗系统的垄断
 
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