Silicone Engineering prepared for second wave

Blackburn-based Silicone Engineering has been producing protective shields for use by healthcare workers across the UK and is prepared to serve growing demand in the event of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

In just seven days, engineers at the Manufacturing Technology Centre worked in collaoration with Rolls-Royce, Dr Ian Renfrew, consultant interventional radiologist at Barts, and Dr Paolo Perella, anaesthetic registrar at Royal London Hospital, to prototype, develope and created a shield for use with ventilators.

The intubation shields use Silicone Engineering’s patented kSil® solid silicone sheeting that can be made and dispatched quickly to protect frontline healthcare workers while they provide intricate, and dangerous, medical care to infected patients with Covid-19.

Intubation shields work by forming a transparent physical barrier between a patient with Covid-19 and those treating them, while still enabling the healthcare workers to carry out complex medical procedures. 

Patients with severe breathing difficulties may need to be placed on a ventilator to help them breathe, and intubation shields allow healthcare workers to insert the tube into the patient’s mouth and down the airway with minimum exposure to the virus. 

Medical staff must be able to reach inside the shield to fit and remove the ventilation tube. The points at which they can do this, known as the access ports or port holes, are made of Silicone Engineering’s kSil® solid silicone sheeting, which forms a flexible but snug-fitting protective barrier around a healthcare worker’s arms as they work.

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