Working around the clock to help Tasmanian frontline health workers
“We’ve got a series of 3D printers, purely dedicated to [printing face shield headbands]…
we will run our machines until someone says stop.”
That’s the community-first attitude of Managing Director Keirran Downham and the respective teams of Document Management Tasmania, which includes the Print Division, the Fuji Xerox Business Centre, and Acrodata Tasmania.
A total of eight printers are running 24 hours a day to produce as many face shield headbands as possible.
“Each face shield takes about three and a half hours to produce,” said Keirren.
“It is our desire to print over 2 000 of these face shield headbands and we will just continue to print until someone higher than us says we’ve got enough.”
The headband is the industry standard prototype which is being used right across Europe and Keirran’s team are producing them one by one. The headband is made from corn starch filament, which is 100 per cent biodegradable and non-toxic.
Keirren said Document Management Tasmania (DMT) began producing the headbands after a discussion with a client about local organisations who were in need of some assistance.
DMT teamed up with Community Care Tasmania, providing them with the headbands while Community Care Tasmania source the plastic shield to go over the face, and assemble the two pieces. Community Care Tasmania then help get the face shield headbands to those who need them most.
“Community Care Tasmania are an intermediate organisation that deals with the medical industry in all facets,” said Keirren.
“These face shields will end up going through all the aged care facilities, the hospitals, the GP clinics.
“[The face shields] are going to go to the organisations that may not be top of mind.”
Keirran says he has no intention to sell the headbands, everything will be donated.
“To us, there is no cost in this because there is only a cost if we don’t,” he said.
“I’ve been [working] in Tasmania for 25 years. You can’t be embedded in the Tasmanian community and not want to protect the community that’s always looked after you.”