CCM announced a collaborative effort to produce “Full Head Protective Hoods” to help healthcare workers dealing with COVID-19. This continues CCM Hockey’s involvement in helping those on the frontline of the pandemic; late last week, the company announced that it was working with its player endorsees to donate 500,000 surgical masks.
CCM Hockey is working with surgeon Dr. René Caissie and Industrie Orkan to produce the hoods. CCM gave a full description of the hoods in this release:
The advantage of the full-head protective hood is that it completely encloses the user’s head and is powered by an air-purifying respirator (PAPR). This device will provide an integrated defence against multiple hazards by combining respiratory, head, eye and face protection, guarding against aerosolized and airborne particulates. It can be worn for multiple hours at a time and reduces inter-patient treatment protection changeover lapses. The protective hood was tested at the Institut de Recherche en Santé et Sécurité du Travail (IRSST), attaining an Assigned Protective Factor (APF) of 100—10 times the APF needed to qualify an N95 mask.
The second (top right) image illustrates the hood’s extensive coverage:
Proud to protect our front line heroes.
— CCM Hockey (@CCMHockey) April 13, 2020
We’ve re-engineered our NHL Pro Custom Equipment production facility & have worked with Industrie Orkan & Dr. René Caissie of the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, to produce game-changing protective hoods for healthcare workers. pic.twitter.com/EXrDpmqIPd
More on CCM collaborating to produce protective hoods to help those during pandemic
The CCM Hockey release notes that Dr. Caissie and others emphasized that the hoods be built from parts that are easily available in the Quebec area. Dr. Caissie explained why that is important.
“The tremendous response time and manufacturing turnaround at CCM and Orkan is a true testimony to the power of collaboration in the face of a common threat,” Dr. Caissie said, via the release. “The needs are so great that we are asking everyone out there to chip-in in any way they can. At this point, a robust supply chain is vital to producing as many devices as possible and distributing them without delay.”
In addition to producing the hoods, CCM shared manufacturing instructions via this PDF.
The company estimates that about 150 hoods could be made per day, once health officials approve.
In addition to CCM, other companies are doing their part to help out. Bauer recently took similar steps, going from manufacturing hockey equipment to face shields for workers. Bauer shared manufacturing instructions for those shields, too.
As another example, the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch pitched in to help sanitize personal protective equipment. In other words, a lot of people are helping, in ways both big and small.
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.