[hackerspaces] COVID-19 and Hackerspaces Interveiew Makers on Tap

[Danilo]

Hi fellow hackers

Just as a friendly reminder, when making DIY health eqipment, please keep this thread in mind:

https://twitter.com/FauthNiklas/status/1242064388300947456

There are some areas where DIY has its place (see this case of a modded Decathlon scuba diving mask converted into a CPAP mask https://twitter.com/RiccardoMasutti/status/1242211351189217287), but devices like ventilators are probably not it. Besides that, in most cases ventilators aren't even the bottleneck, but trained staff that can run and monitor those devices is. (At least that's what I heard from health professionals involved in Covid treatment.)

Furthermore, 3D printing can result in porous surfaces, which is a property you don't want in most medical applications because it's really hard to clean / disinfect properly.

Anyways, doing things like building masks out of fabric, old clothes, napkins or vacuum cleaner bags makes sense though, as long as you don't cut up actual medical masks to get the filters: https://twitter.com/bornity/status/1243605767078502400 Also, don't claim any serious protection (they reduce the risk a bit, they don't protect) and if you live in Germany don't call them "Atemschutzmaske" (https://www.mimikama.at/allgemein/gesichtsmasken-achtung-beim-namen/) to avoid getting sued.

Cheers & keep hacking,
Danilo