On March 19, 2020, an Executive Order and Public Health Order directed all Californians to stay home except to go to an essential job or to shop for essential needs, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus global health pandemic.
While ensuring our staff was safe by setting up work-from-home operations, Arc/k Project Founder/Executive Director Brian Pope led generous efforts to respond to the crisis.
PPE for Frontline Workers in California
During the medical supply shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Arc/k Project joined the effort across the country to 3D print PPE face shields for the heroes so many already owe a debt of gratitude for saving their lives, our brave health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Mass production began, and we were able to print 700 of these masks for the cause directly out of our Hollywood studio.
Arc/k Project Director of Operations Scott Purdy assembles a face shield, fabricated and printed at our L.A. headquarters.
After consulting with the head of the ICU department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, we learned how to best customize these shields for maximum protection and comfort. Nurses and doctors were wearing this gear for the duration of their extended shifts, and many had to re-use them for several days due to dangerously depleted critical supplies.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center team with Arc/k Project 3D printed PPE face shields.
“Every member of the team at Arc/k Project leapt at the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to our communities during this global health crisis and some attended our 3D printers at all hours for weeks to overcome technical hurdles and maximize face shield output—they are my heroes, too.”
–Brian Pope, CEO of The Arc/k Project
We are proud to have joined the larger community response from many LA-based institutions–including local universities and companies who donated their resources and production to this urgent cause. As medical supplies became more available for our local communities, we discontinued our PPE face shield operation, and redirected our attention to purchasing and delivering commercial, newly available PPE toward cultural communities under direct and outsized threat from COVID-19.
Supporting Native American Communities In Need
Over the summer, our Founder donated additional PPE resources to Native American communities in need. For Indigenous American cultures and communities, the systemic neglect and under-funding prevalent in government-run medical facilities on Indian land was nothing new, but its effect on the massively outscaled impact of the pandemic on these communities was startling, heartbreaking and compels still further action. We have been able, so far, to get 2000 face masks, 1000 KN-95 masks, 1000 medical gowns, and 30 pairs of safety goggles into the hands of Navajo tribal health care centers and are gearing up for further such efforts as the pandemic worsens, decimating native communities as well as people of color disproportionately.
We have become somewhat experienced at sourcing and distributing PPE and urge anyone interested in helping us defend already-distressed Indigenous cultures to join us, either by alerting us to any known Native American communities in desperate need of PPE and/or contributing financially to our ongoing PPE efforts to reduce the impact on those most vulnerable.
Gratitude
We send our heartfelt gratitude to all the doctors, nurses, paramedics, and first responders putting themselves on the frontlines to protect human lives with no care to the political prejudices and neglect which have left our national government utterly, criminally absent at the exact moment our entire civilization needs long-lost American leadership the most.
Stay informed and stay safe : www.coronavirus.gov