Early in the COVID-19 pandemic – early March 2020, there was a massive shortage in personal protective equipment for all of healthcare personnel, but especially acute in the outpatient clinic setting which held lower priority compared to hospital inpatient services. A good friend of mine, Alex Theodore, and I came up with a crazy idea to build out a clear wall with built-in gloves and examination equipment which would provide protection w/o additional use of disposable PPE. At his shop (Millfinish.com), Alex built out an exciting prototype and I put it to use. The feeling was that it could help clinicians continue care for critical patients and also help keep their doors open.
After it was built out, we were excited to see something similar in Korea – dubbed “Phone booth” COVID testing.
I used the prototype in my clinic for some time but as PPE availability improved and insurances covered telemed visits, the examination wall became unnecessary. As the COVID vaccine rolls out, we hope for a quick end to this pandemic and I keep this project in storage for many years.
More photos & videos are here.
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