Fab City Response to COVID-19: Resourcefulness, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact

Written By Guest User

A really special thing is happening.

It started with experienced designers and fabricators - a scattering of individuals wondering what they could do to be relevant in the face of a global pandemic. Many were connected to doctors and nurses who were becoming increasingly alarmed about the dwindling stocks of critical personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies. It was clear that the acute spike in demand for these things was creating a significant undersupply of these items that traditional manufacturers were unable to meet quickly enough.

Most photographs courtesy Maurice Ramirez (some self-submitted)

Soon enough, those individuals started talking to others. Open source designs emerged and were shared for the bhttps://www.mauriceramirez.com/nefit of those around the world. Teams formed and re-formed in response to rapidly shifting and totally unpredictable needs. Safety protocols were developed and shared. So many hours and square feet and kilowatt hours, gas and shoe leather went into moving people, materials and finished goods through a new supply chain - one that acts very differently from the prevailing mode of global supply, shipping and manufacturing.

This happened without any central authority telling anyone what to do. Individuals and teams found ways they could best contribute, based on their skills and assets. At the beginning, very few people got paid, and many dug into their savings accounts to buy increasingly scarce materials.

The Oakland Fab City team helped by providing its expertise and assets, trading favors, raising funds, tracking information, and showing appreciation. Given more funding and staff, we could have done more, moved faster, and helped make better decisions at every step of the way.

All who have been part of this effort are looking forward to the day when this activity has become obsolete. We understand that, in time, larger scale manufacturing will outpace this effort.

But that won’t be the end of the story. We are already in a new world, where assumptions we’ve made about how best to conduct our global business might no longer be true. The resiliency exhibited in this loosely coordinated effort is exemplary of the sort of effort we will need to apply to future crises. We are fiercely protective of our local manufacturing capacity. It needs not only to continue to exist, but to innovate and grow, and support the innovation and growth of products which will be needed to respond to future pandemics, earthquakes, fires, political unrest, and the ongoing environmental impacts of climate change.

In just a few weeks, this effort has produced:

  • Face shields: tens of thousands of units produced, with thousands per day of ongoing sustained production, at increasing rates as more efficient production methods come online

  • Surgical masks: nearly 15,000 produced - cut, laundered, kitted, and sewed by volunteers in their homes - literal tons of fabric have been processed in this effort to date

  • PAPR replacement shields: thousands of units produced with ongoin production in the hundreds per day - open source innovation to meet a narrow but critical need - these shields allow docs and nurses to operate in a positive air pressure environment when exposed to highly contagious patients

  • Aerosol containment boxes: dozens produced - used to intubate COVID patients and contain aerosolized virus to avoid contamination & transmission

  • Surgical gowns, booties and bonnets: materials are being processed now to produce thousands of units of each of these things

Some notable teams and individuals working on this project:

Guest User
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