TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tallahassee Community College is producing 3-D printable face masks for first responders.
The college’s Computer Technology Department (CT) created 25 filtration face masks for the TCC Police Department.
The CT manager Mike Vickers said he saw the call to action nationwide for surgical face masks and other medical equipment to fight the COVID-19 crisis and wanted to help.
“I saw a need and it was something that TCC had the equipment to do,” Vickers said. “I just wanted to help.”
Vickers used design files from the Montana Science Center to create the masks.
According to TCC, the Montana Mask is a highly effective filtration mask that can be sanitized and reused. Along with that, the level of protection is customizable, depending on the material used for the filter.
TCC has four different 3D printers in use for the face mask production. Between the four 3D printers, 14 masks can be produced each day.
The Chief for TCC PD said he’s grateful for the generosity and support from TCC.
“With supplies of personal protective equipment like N95 masks being extremely limited, we have had to get smarter about how we allocate and use our resources,” said Chief Greg Gibson, TCCPD. “With this innovative support from our TCC partners, we are able to stretch limited equipment further so that we can better protect our team and the community we serve.”
Vickers has already donated seven 3-D face masks to a local dentist office. He plans to create more masks for first responders in the Big Bend area.
