Iligan City police make their own face masks and shields. Contributed photo
Simple yet creative ideas are on the way to help alleviate the shortage of protective equipment for people to avoid getting the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
In Iligan City, members of the City Mobile Force Company (CMFC) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are turning old police uniforms into masks.
Lieutenant Colonel Roger Kent Andoy, CMFC chief, said his personnel thought of making the improvised masks as the supply of these have dwindled and police manning checkpoints round-the-clock have run out of supply.
Andoy’s unit is assigned to run checkpoint operations in Barangay Buruun, one of the five entry points to Iligan City.
“We have a lot of old and worn out uniforms in the office, supposedly to be made into pillows. But because many of us don’t have masks to use, we came up with that idea,” Andoy said.
All those who are off-duty help in cutting the clothes into patterns, while three cops do the manual sewing of the masks.
Iligan City police make their own face masks and shields. Contributed photo
“This crisis made us discover how to innovate,” Andoy said.
At the city’s Police Station 4, cops are making improvised face shields out of acetate sheets that are attached to their PNP-issued cap.
Major Abogado Mautin, Station 4 chief, said his office thought of the idea because it would be difficult for cops to observe social distancing in the field.
Mautin said that they are set to observe up to two meters distance from another person while doing scrutiny in a checkpoint.
But, he said, they end up violating this rule.
“When we verify persons and ask them about their travel origins and destinations, we have to get closer to a person so we can hear them,” Mautin explained.