REALLY POSITIVE COLLABORATION RESULTS SAFER WORKING FOR MEDICS
1 JUNE 2020
News from our Treasurer, Court Assistant Ian Leggett, of how three Livery Companies plus several experts came together to assist with the development of a brand new and innovative medical gown.
Over the weekend of 18th April 2020, Ian Leggett was asked for his help in finding a solution that addressed the safety of all those caring for the most critically ill Covid-19 patients who are intubated. That weekend saw the formation of an expert committee of interested volunteers and individuals with their own field of appropriate expertise to design, make, test and deliver 'a multi-use water-resistant gown with low air permeability which could be washed at 60°C+ would fit the bill (there was also a similar determination by the UKFT).
On the Monday our Clerk of the Stationers’ Company put Ian in touch with the Clerks of the Drapers and the Clothworkers who very kindly (and speedily) made substantial donations to ensure that the cloth, and the design and function of the gown could be tested, and enough cloth acquired and distributed to the team of volunteers who sewed the gowns.
Since the 19th April 2020 there have been significant challenges and hurdles that have been overcome to get the Montreal Park Gown to where it is needed most – not least a change in legislation four weeks into the project. As well as numerous other highly complex and rather convoluted issues, some of which are still being addressed. Despite this by the week of 26th May 2020, 160+ gowns have been produced and gowns have now been issued to a number of key frontline clinicians.
News of the gowns is being disseminated and they can be procured free of charge on application via the website. Individuals are issued with a Gown Pack which consists of two gowns (one on and one in the wash!), two specially designed laundry bags and a starter ‘wash pack’.
Do click through and explore the website https://montrealparkredzoneppe.org/. You can view the bio’s of the Expert Committee on the website referred to above to see exactly what the gown looks like and how it is used. The Performance and Testing results of the gown are now published (as of 22nd May 2020) and provide an interesting and sobering read.
21st century society is often perceived as very self-centred and while absolutely no-one would have wished the Coronavirus pandemic upon us to prove the opposite, that is in fact what has happened in all sorts of ways. In this case, the crisis has brought Ian, the Montreal Park team and three City Livery Companies together to make this amazing breakthrough in medical gowns which are currently making caring for extremely ill patients much safer.