Quick help from Selters

The face shield by Schütz in use. (Photo: SCHÜTZ)

The ongoing spread of the new coronavirus poses a huge challenge to medical care for people all over the world. Even in Westerwald, formerly self-evident medical supplies have suddenly become scarce. Healthcare and nursing staff urgently need protective equipment such as respiratory masks and face shields for their work. To quickly provide relief, Schütz at its headquarters in Selters is developing and manufacturing face shields in record time and is already supplying surrounding facilities.

An employee, whose wife works at a nearby hospital, initiated the project: Driven by the high local demand, he started a project at Schütz to produce visors. They consist of three components: a holder, a rubber band, and the face shield. Thanks to decades of experience in plastics processing and injection molding, the company developed a suitable injection mold in its in-house toolmaking within just two days to produce the visor holders in large quantities. The film for the visor is supplied by the packaging specialist Klockner Pentaplast GmbH in Montabaur. They also donated a large number of visors as part of the initiative.

In an initial relief effort, Schütz was able to provide local hospitals, clinics, care facilities, and midwives with thousands of face shields free of charge in the shortest possible time. As feedback to this aid package, numerous other hospitals and nursing homes contacted us, unable to meet their large demand for face shields. To quickly respond and increase capacity, larger quantities of materials for this special production were immediately procured. The company is now able to offer the face shields as a complete set for self-assembly in even higher quantities at cost price. Surrounding facilities can purchase the visors directly from Schütz. "We are pleased to be able to contribute to the protection of our doctors and nursing staff, who are under extraordinary pressure in these times," said Melanie Ievolo, Manager Advertising & PR at Schütz.