A COVID-19 COMMUNITY PROJECT

HANDMADE MASKS FOR AT-RISK INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS

What is the Flatten the Curve Handmade Masks Project?

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a group of healthcare professionals and industry experts have committed to manufacture homemade face coverings.

Our goal is to provide masks to at-risk individuals, refugees, staff working in medical clinics, hospices, women's shelters, mental health homes, and home support agencies, where access to approved personal protection equipment (PPE) is limited.

PHASE 2 GOAL

FTC MASKS BY DECEMBER 31, 2020

An ambitious goal

Our pilot goal was to distribute 2,000 FTC Masks by May 15, 2020, or sooner. We exceed this goal by 50%. Masks were needed immediately for at-risk individuals—so the sooner we start producing, the sooner we get them into the hands of those who need them. Following our pilot project, we've set a new goal of 3,200 more masks by December 31, 2020. Included in our new goal is the delivery of 600 mask kits to new refugees arriving in Metro Vancouver.

VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

The benefits of handmade masks

In recent weeks well-respected researchers have recommended that in the absence of PPE hospital standard surgical masks (N-95) respirators, handmade masks will reduce the transmission of the virus. Flatten the Curve Handmade Masks (FTC Masks) do not meet PPE standards, and there is no assurance that a mask such as this will offer full protection from COVID-19. However, research indicates that the use of a homemade mask will limit exposure if the user encounters a contact or is a carrier of COVID-19.

What design is best?

We know there are many different patterns and designs—a Google search brings up pages of them. The selection process involved our designer producing 100 masks and testing them with local health professionals. Based on global research (including studies from Cambridge, San Francisco, and Stirling universities), best practices, and the preferred mask of our local health care professionals, we have selected a simple pleated, three-layered mask that hooks behind both ears.

ABOUT THE PROJECT