All ‘bottled up’ at creative Manila hospital

MANILA, Philippines — It’s “bring your own bottle” (BYOB) at a tertiary hospital in Sampaloc, Manila.

But the BYOB drive is not for liquid refills. Due to the shortage of N95 masks and other protective equipment, staff members of Mary Chiles General Hospital are repurposing 5-liter water bottles, acetate and clear folders as face shields.

Such shields are used by health care workers to protect their eyes, nose and mouth from sprays and splatters of respiratory fluids.

Photos or footage of passengers at international airports wearing empty water bottle containers on their head have been making the rounds in the internet.

Netizens have also uploaded tutorials on do-it-yourself face shields using bottles and other types of materials.

Simple design

Most designs from the internet are quite simple: Cut the bottom and one side of the bottle until it resembles a face shield. Other people just cut the bottom, with the spout serving as breathing valve.

Physician Grace Devota Go of Mary Chiles Hospital said she came up with the BYOB idea because of the current difficulty in procuring personal protective equipment (PPE).

“Government hospitals are prioritized in the distribution of PPEs. Private medical facilities like us are the last one to receive this gear. We need to buy our own,” she told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

The repurposed water bottles will be used by the hospital janitors, construction workers and other personnel, Go said.

She said nonmedical front-liners like janitors must also wear protection when disposing of PPE previously worn by health care workers.“These people who keep our facilities clean must be protected,” she said.

The 75-bed Mary Chiles Hospital on Dalupan Street caters to middle- to low-income patients.

Its doctors have had to shell out their own money to buy PPE for their staff’s protection.

DIY FACE SHIELD Five-liter plastic water bottles have found a new use at Mary Chiles General Hospital in Sampaloc, Manila. The repurposed containers, however, are intended only for its nonmedical personnel like janitors and other support staff not involved in patient care. —GRACE DEVOTA GO/CONTRIBUTOR

Must be creative

Due to lack of crucial medical supplies like N95 and surgical masks, Go said, the hospital staff had to be creative. They had masks made out of linen layered with paper towels.

Hospital staff who will wear the repurposed bottles have to wear these masks underneath to decrease the likelihood of exposure.

No confirmed cases

There are no confirmed COVID-19 cases at Mary Chiles at this writing, but “everyone of us is considered a person under monitoring” due to the rate of local transmission, Go said.

“If one of us develops respiratory symptoms, we are considered patients under investigation,” she said.

The hospital has received plenty of plastic bottle donations, but the staff is still in dire need of other protective gear like gloves, gowns, caps and booties, Go said.