BREMERTON, Wash. –
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility has made and provided more than 1,500 protective face shields to Navy commands and the local medical community throughout the past couple of weeks.
According to PSNS & IMF Technology Insertion Manager Jeff Brimhall, PSNS & IMF has provided 450 face shields to Harrison Hospital; 600 face shields to Commander, Naval Surface Forces, in San Diego; and 500 face shields to Submarine Forces Pacific, in Hawaii.
“They need these face shields to provide to medical departments on deployed submarines and surface ships,” said Brimhall. “They will use them when anyone is suspected of having COVID-19, or while handling possibly contaminated items.”
Brimhall said support to external organizations began after PSNS & IMF met the command’s needs for face shields.
“Naval Sea Systems command and the shipyard commander have a strong commitment to supporting the community and other commands,” Brimhall said. “I am excited about being able to make a difference in our community, specifically to Harrison Hospital, and to the deployed ships in the fleet. There are a lot of people in the command who want to make a difference, and sharing PSNS & IMF-produced masks has provided us with a way to do that.”
Workers in the Shop 31 Toolmaker’s Shop, began spearheading face shield production efforts in late March. Since they began production, they have adjusted the design, and have standardized and documented the production process to share with other commands.
"The team has developed and now follows their own standard work procedures in the manufacturing process for the face shields,” said Ryan Marson with Code 1000I, Technology Insertion.
Marson said PSNS & IMF is using collaboration tools to document and share the production process for several types of COVID-19-related protective gear, including cloth masks, the plastic face shields and clear barriers, which are currently manufactured and installed by the Code 1060 Moonshine Lab and the Code 100PI Lean Office.
"We are also using the NAVSEA Fusion Suite tools; JIRA and WIKI, for collaborative efforts in getting these innovations implemented,” said Marson. “NAVSEA is also standing up a dedicated COVID-19 JIRA Project to coordinate and advance these types of initiatives across the enterprise."
Grant Bosshardt, the fleet support business manager, Code 1213, who is managing all external assistance requests, says that PSNS & IMF has received requests from many agencies in the area. PSNS & IMF is working to fulfill these requests, as possible.
“For non-DoD activities, like Kitsap Transit and Harrison Medical Group, we have established a Limited Purpose Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with each organization, which gives us a vehicle to transfer this material,” said Brimhall.
“I think sharing our PPE is a wonderful example of how this command not only cares about the people who work here, but also about the people who live and work in the surrounding community,” Bosshardt said. “I'm very proud to be involved in this effort.”