1 MILLION THANKS!
L.I. duo mass-produce face shield for doctors
When Dr. Bettina Fries reached out to her Long Island neighbor last week, she had no interest in sharing the local gossip or spring gardening tips.
Fries is the chief of infectious diseases at Stony Brook University Hospital. And her friend is Agjah Libohova, who lives four doors down and works as an R&D guy for a Long Island lighting business.
Together, the two developed — in a matter of days — a new model of protective, easily mass-produced plastic face shields to aid medical workers on the front lines of the increasingly deadly coronavirus crisis.
How good is their product? The State of New York already ordered 1 million of them.
“It wasn’t like I wanted to borrow his lawn mower,” said Fries, chuckling about her recruitment of Libohova. “This wasn’t by accident … He’s a very good friend, and an outstanding engineer.”
A worried Fries was at her East Setauket home pondering possible solutions for the lack of personal protective equipment for medical personnel. Her hospital was running low on face shields, and she thought of the neighbor known to his friends as Aggie.
The doctor sent him a text about the crisis, followed by a photo of the current masks in use. Could he figure out a way to mass-produce the product? And how long would it take?
“Bring me one tomorrow,” he replied. “I think we can do this.”
He was right. Within 24 hours, Libohova had a prototype. There were tweaks to make production easier, and vetting by Fries’ colleagues at the hospital and by engineering Prof. Jon Longtin.
Aggie’s boss at Clear-Vu Lighting quickly committed to making the new masks, and voila! A solution to the vexing problem was at hand, and soon to be in the hands of those who desperately need them.
The lack of PPE remains Problem One for doctors, nurses and other hospital workers.
The lightweight, disposable plastic shield extends from the top of the head to below the chin, preventing the virus from infecting the mucous membranes — particularly in the eyes, which are exposed with a typical N95 mask. The shield also keeps the mask clean, allowing repeated use with less threat of infection.
Danny Lax, Libohova’s boss at Clear-Vu Lighting, wasn’t surprised by Aggie’s quick work.
“He’s supercreative,” said Lax, whose company is based just 5 miles from the hospital. “Very proactive. Always has a lot of ideas. He’s always done that. As we looked at it, we realized there was a spot for us to come in and help out.”
The flood of orders, including 200,000 from Stony Brook, will also allow ClearVu’s assembly workers to continue collecting their paychecks.
The first shipments are already going out to local hospitals, said Lax, whose company was previously creating enhanced lighting systems for mass transit stations.
The shields are priced to move, too: Less than $2 apiece to start, with prices going down from there based on volume, said Lax.
Even Fries was astounded by the dramatic turnaround from concept to creation. The first shields are already in use at some Long Island hospitals.
“We needed this stuff now, not 10 weeks from now,” she said. “Clear-Vu immediately dropped everything. We realized, ‘This is simple. This is going to work.’ ”
Do you know a New Yorker going above and beyond to help the city or their community during the coronavirus crisis? Tell us about them! Email us at news@nydailynews.com