{"id":1318948,"date":"2020-03-19T17:33:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T23:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=994857"},"modified":"2020-03-20T08:33:10","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T14:33:10","slug":"valley-view-hospital-nurses-prepare-for-covid-19-with-sewing-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/valley-view-hospital-nurses-prepare-for-covid-19-with-sewing-machines\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley View Hospital nurses prepare for COVID-19 with sewing machines"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Wendy Tennis,left, and Jean Winkler work to prepare masks for the final sewing steps at Valley View Hospital on Thursday morning.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

After elective surgeries were canceled Monday at Valley View Hospital for the foreseeable future, two operating room nurses had some downtime.<\/p>\n

Nurses Brady Heuer and Kristen Dirksen knew personal protective equipment would be crucial to keeping medical staff safe during likely exposure to the new coronavirus. They also knew it would be in short supply. So, they came up with an idea.<\/p>\n

 \u201cWe were sitting there and thinking, wait a minute, this item that we use on a daily basis is readily available to us, how can we use this?\u201d Heuer said.<\/p>\n

That item was blue wrap cloth used in operating rooms to protect sterilized surgical tools from bacteria and airborne contaminants before surgery.<\/p>\n

\n
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\u201cBrady and Kristen\u2019s innovation is absolutely remarkable. These are the kinds of ideas that will carry us forward in the care of our patients.\u201d \u2014Dr. Gregory, Valley Medical Group CEO<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

\n
\n
Jo Bershenyi sews together a mask near the end of the assembly line in the new \u201csewing room\u201d at Valley View Hospital on Thursday morning.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt was a light-bulb-went-off moment, and we got excited,\u201d Heuer said.<\/p>\n

They took the idea to their managers, and it gained traction. When it came before the incident command team, it was like a ray of hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just this bright spot in what has been kind of a challenging time,\u201d Valley View Hospital spokeswoman Stacey Gavrell said.<\/p>\n

Coronavirus coming<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re definitely in the mitigation phase, so we\u2019re expecting an influx of patients,\u201d Gavrell said.<\/p>\n

Valley View has not yet treated any COVID-19 patients.<\/p>\n

Garfield County has three confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, but between the more advanced outbreaks in Pitkin and Eagle counties and the virtual certainty of community spread, it\u2019s likely only a matter of time before hospital beds are needed to care for patients with the severe respiratory ailments caused by the disease.<\/p>\n

When that happens, the N95 respirator, which seal the nose and mouth of the wearer from all bacteria and contaminants, will be critical in helping health care workers avoid infection.<\/p>\n

The problem is that protective equipment like N95 is running out globally because of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Places like Seattle, where the pandemic has hit hospitals hard, is suffering from the shortage and scrambling for solutions.<\/p>\n

A mask for the masks<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The blue masks aren\u2019t a replacement for the N95, but they will ensure that Valley View\u2019s stockpile last longer.<\/p>\n

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\n
A mask starts to form near the end of the assembly line.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Wendy Tennis pins two pieces of a mask together to be sent further on down the assembly line at Valley View on Thursday.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The N95 is a disposable mask that in light of the recent shortage may be re-used a limited number of times, according to recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the N95 must be thrown away if it gets dirty, or comes into contact with any bodily fluids, and that\u2019s where the blue come in.<\/p>\n

The blue Valley View masks will be worn over the N95 as an added barrier to allow staff to re-use the N95 up to five times, per Valley View policy.<\/p>\n

\n
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Jean Winkler pins two pieces of a mask together to continue on down the assembly line at Valley View on Thursday.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt extends the life of those masks,\u201d Billington said.<\/p>\n

Since the blue wrap material is federally rated to protect surgical tools when sterilized, it made sense to use it as a mask for the critical masks. And Valley View has plenty of the blue material \u2014 enough for 16,000 hospital-made masks, Billington estimates.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of this, and they said, \u2018Why couldn\u2019t we make these into masks, which would do the same thing on a human being, as far as exposing them to air particulates?\u2019\u201d Billington said.<\/p>\n

Sewing<\/strong> together<\/h4>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for the mask production idea to attract willing workers.<\/p>\n

After getting approval for the idea from hospital administrators, Heuer and Dirksen put together a prototype, and by Wednesday, after three trips to Walmart to buy sewing machines and supplies (\u201cwe cleared them out,\u201d Heuer said), they went into production in one of hospital\u2019s conference rooms.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 precautions at Valley View<\/a>, including canceled elective surgeries and cessation of non-essential services, meant many hospital staff, medical-related or not, had less to do this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe their roles and responsibilities have shifted, and now they\u2019re part of the sewing center,\u201d Gavrell said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
Wendy Tennis pins two pieces of a masks together to be sent further on down the assembly line at Valley View on Thursday.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/figure>\n

Nurses, doctors and therapists are now sewing masks alongside the hospital librarian, maintenance workers and an athletic trainer.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Jennifer Butterfield, with no patients to serve, also joined the mask production.<\/p>\n

For Butterfield and others at the hospital, COVID-19 preparedness has been the topic of conversation for weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to get ready now, with whatever means we come up with, to deal with the onslaught when it comes,\u201d Butterfield said.<\/p>\n

To Butterfield, the mask making became a meaningful way to contribute in an uncertain time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have this desperate desire to help. We have to help, it\u2019s in our DNA, and I think more than anything people are so excited to be able to have something to fight this, and to be able to contribute,\u201d Butterfield said.<\/p>\n

Butterfield was not in the least surprised about the genesis of the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always the nurses in times of trouble that troubleshoot, and try to make something out of nothing,\u201d Butterfield said.<\/p>\n

tphippen@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wendy Tennis,left, and Jean Winkler work to prepare masks for the final sewing steps at Valley View Hospital on Thursday morning.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent After elective surgeries were canceled Monday at Valley View Hospital for the foreseeable future, two operating room nurses had some downtime. Nurses Brady Heuer and Kristen Dirksen knew personal protective […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1318948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-02 17:38:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318948"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1318963,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318948\/revisions\/1318963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}