THE MELBOURNE VOLUNTEER MASK PROJECT
Masks vs COVID 19
We are a group of community volunteers from Melbourne and Country Victoria who are making masks for health workers and other public servants at risk of contracting COVID 19. We sew masks based on an innovative design made by the University of Florida.
THE PROJECT AND THE MASKS
BACKGROUND
In the early stages of the COVID 19 outbreak in Australia, grave concerns were expressed by the Australia medical community about critical shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE). Around the same time, Dr Bruce Spiess, A Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Florida, USA, published a method of using a unique surgical sterilization packaging fabric to make masks. The fabric used was found to be suitable for this purpose due to its high filtration efficacy. The design used to sew the mask provides a tight seal on the user's face. Dr Spiess and his team have published detailed instructions for the production of their design.
We have formed a group of volunteers with sewing experience and are producing free masks for the use of interested doctors, nurses and other health personnel in Victoria. We are hoping to be able to provide masks to interested clinicians but we caution all potential users that these home made masks have not been tested or proven to be effective, and anyone using them does it completely at their own responsibility. We have endeavoured to provide references about the masks and the materials they are made of, as well as their usage during the COVID19 pandemic in other parts of the world, in this website.
CONTACT THE MELBOURNE VOLUNTEER MASK PROJECT:
Founders:
Dr Maya Zamir
Dr Maya Zamir is a vet. She initiated this project and started the volunteer group in 2020, when she was a final year vet science student at Melbourne University, after finding the unique University of Florida mask/respirator design. She then coordinated volunteers, donations, material purchasing and website administration.
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Dr Ehud Zamir
Dr Ehud Zamir is an ophthalmologist, and has started experimenting with making masks from the Halyard surgical wrapping fabric in March 200, responding to the mask shortage. He has been sourcing the Halyard fabric from operating theatres and assisting Maya in the general running of the project as well as promotion of the masks to healthcare workers.
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