Highland school makes and sends visors to Raigmore Hospital to help NHS during coronavirus crisis
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Kingussie High School has being doing its bit to help prepare the local NHS service for the tough coronavirus challenges which lie ahead – with the aid of some shatter-proof rulers and plastic book covers.
Headteacher Ian Adamson, technology teacher Hugh Verling and former head Ollie Bray have been busy modifying safety goggles from the school's science department in true Blue Peter style for use by frontline health workers.
And it was job done, with the trio passing their techy examination with flying colours and 50 pairs of full face visors now on their way to staff caring for children with respiratory problems at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
The need for much more Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been well highlighted across the nation by NHS staff in order to keep them safe whilst battling Covid-19.
Mr Adamson said: "I saw on Twitter that Lochaber High School had been approached by their local hospital (Belford Hospital) to build visors using their 3D printers.
"We have two 3D printers at the school so Ollie and I went in to look if we could do likewise.
"However, we discovered that it takes five to six hours to 3D print just one single head visor so we hit upon on another idea using what equipment we already had in the school.
"We found 50 pairs of goggles in the science department which are EU safety approved and that was the starting point."
The NHS requires the PPE to provide full face protection to staff to reduce the risk of infection from patients carrying Coronavirus.
Thus plastic rulers and book covers were rounded up by the pair and given a brand new and unexpected use after-all necessity is the mother of invention.
But despite their best efforts Mr Adamson and Mr Bray were struggling to bring the full face shield goggles together which is when they called on an expert in their own midst – techy teacher Hugh.
Efforts to talk them through the cuts and applications over FaceTime did not go so smoothly so Mr Verling joined his colleagues for the goggle-making shift on Friday with production running from 10am to 6pm.
Mr Adamson said: "I have to admit we were struggling before Hugh's arrival!"
Come the end of the shift and with 50 full face safety goggles in the bag, the feat was highlighted on the secondary school's social media and it was not long before they were contacted by a local NHS worker.
Mr Adamson explained: "She runs a team looking after young children with breathing difficulties with some of them on ventilators. The goggles were collected on Tuesday.
"My biggest fear was that they would not be up to the required NHS health and safety standards but when she saw them she assured us they would 100 per cent be used which was great for us to hear."
Also heading to the north's main hospital are some 200 plastic aprons and 15 boxes of rubber gloves which Mr Adamson and Mr Bray found on their school rounds.
Now the headteacher is hoping other schools will follow their example: "They must be other schools in the Highlands with plenty of shatter-proof rulers and science goggles to hand.
"We would be delighted to share information on the model we used so that they can contribute."
