Donated ski goggles helping to protect health-care workers
Olympic snowboard champion Anna Gasser cleaned out her closet in Austria over the weekend and found nine pairs of goggles.
They’re all being cleaned, packed and donated, including a pair she’s pretty certain she wore at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
Destination: Health-care workers.
Olympic athletes, recreational skiers and snowboarders, resorts and businesses are contributing an assortment of ski goggles with one clear vision: To help those in the medical community who are in need of eye protection as they treat patients with COVID-19.
It’s part of a program called “Goggles for Docs,” a grassroots effort that began in late March and has already donated more than 18,000 goggles.
“People are really stepping up to the plate,” said Dr. Ronald Gross, an acute-care surgeon at St. Francis Hospital in Connecticut. “People care about each other. That’s the uplifting part.”
Both new and used goggles are welcome (medical personnel can disinfect and use them over again). Lenses that are tinted, clear or dark all work. Because as the website states, anything is “better than a COVID cough to the face” at a time when there’s a shortage of personal protective equipment.
A counter on the website tracks the number of goggles received. In addition, there’s a chart for how many goggles a particular place needs.
“The snow-sports community is attacking this with such intensity,” said Jon Schaefer, the founder of the program. “We all know health-care workers and you’re like, ‘Oh, man, I want to do something.’”
The collection of goggles was set in motion by Dr. Michael Halperin out of New York City. He sent an email to friends in the ski community requesting 300 pairs each for three emergency departments. They were in urgent need as they dealt with the coronavirus, which causes mild or moderate symptoms for most but can include fever, cough and sometimes pneumonia requiring hospitalization.
Another example of industries lending a hand to the medical community:
Bauer, the company that normally makes hockey equipment, began making thousands of face shields.
Fanatics, the company that manufactures uniforms for Major League Baseball, has suspended production on jerseys and is instead using the polyester mesh fabric to make masks and gowns for hospitals in Pennsylvania and nearby states.
NASCAR began using the 3D printers at its North Carolina research centre to make face masks.