Apr 20, 2020   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Leaders from Medicine, Technology and Academia Form MasksOn.org to Manufacture and Donate Emergency Protective Gear to Healthcare Workers Amid COVID-19

MasksOn.org, a physician-led non-profit organization founded to design, manufacture and donate high-quality emergency personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers, today launched a funding drive to raise an additional $3 million over the next two weeks.

The MasksOn.org Reusable Mask Kit is a durable and sanitizable emergency PPE made by adapting full-face recreational snorkel masks to connect to bacterial/viral filters already used in hospitals. The organization purchases the snorkel masks, manufactures filter adaptors and donates the assembled Reusable Mask Kits to clinicians and healthcare facilities that lack FDA-cleared PPE.

All funds raised will go directly to producing and donating an additional 70,000+ mask kits to frontline healthcare professionals in intensive care units and emergency rooms across the nation where they are needed most.

Having rapidly designed, tested and refined the masks at several hospitals across Boston and New York, MasksOn.org has recently begun the scalable manufacturing and donation of 20,000 Reusable Mask Kits to clinicians in need. Mask kits are already in emergency clinical use at several major hospitals across the country.

“Frontline medical professionals caring for COVID-19 patients are at extremely high-risk of exposure. Intubation, extubation and other aerosolizing procedures put healthcare professionals directly in harm’s way. We need to do everything we can to keep them safe, so they can continue providing the care that so many need,” said Dr. Alexander Stone, Resident, at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. “We started MasksOn.org as a way to quickly and safely create and donate emergency PPE to those in the greatest need during this crisis.”

The organization was founded when two anesthesiology residents, Dr. Jackie Boehme and Dr. Alexander Stone, teamed up with a diverse group of volunteer engineers and technologists who work at:

  • Leading healthcare organizations such as Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Lahey Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
  • Top academic institutions including Columbia University, Harvard University, MIT, Princeton University, Rice University, Tufts University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-San Francisco, University of Texas-Dallas and Yale University.
  • Innovative companies such as Alphabet, Dragon Innovation, E14 Fund, Fab Foundation, Fortify, Fikst, Formlabs, Google, Head, Ocean Reef Group, Husky Moving, Kyruus, Markforged, Onshape, Origin.io, Ox, Prodct, Protolabs, PTC, Scenic Advisement, Tulip, Verily, Vuforia, Voodo and Wild Horn Outfitters.

MasksOn.org’s PPE is a short-term, emergency solution that has undergone rigorous quality control tests to ensure seal, breathability, fogging and ability to communicate with other physicians while wearing it. These masks are targeted for use by healthcare professionals treating COVID-19 patients under emergency PPE shortage situations and should not be used if FDA-approved PPE is available.

There are two ways to help support MasksOn.org’s mission and donate emergency PPE to those in critical need:

  • For large donors, MasksOn.org can accept tax-exempt gifts through its fiscal sponsor, The Fab Foundation. To make a large donation, please follow this link.
  • MasksOn.org is also happy to accept individual donations. Each $50 donation gets one mask kit directly to a clinician in need. Please visit the organization’s GoFundMe page here.

If you are or know a clinician or healthcare professional who is concerned they may run out of FDA-approved PPE, you can request a mask kit through the following link.

If you are able to assist the project in other ways, please contact the organization at contact@maskson.org.

About MasksOn.org

MasksOn.org is a physician-led non-profit organization founded to design, manufacture and donate high-quality emergency personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. MasksOn.org Reusable Mask Kits are durable and sanitizable emergency PPE created by sourcing full-face recreational snorkel masks and adapting them to connect to bacterial/viral filters already used in hospitals. Assembled mask kits are then donated directly to those providing care for the sickest patients in intensive care units and emergency rooms across the nation. For more information, please visit: www.maskson.org, or to donate to the effort, please visit this site.