Goulburn Valley Grammar School has been putting its 3D printer to excellent use by creating ear saver straps and donating them to the health care workers at Goulburn Valley Health (GV Health).

The unique personal protective equipment assists with the correct wearing of face masks and to eliminate fatigue issues associated with continuous wear of common ear loop surgical face masks.

GV Health Executive Director Clinical Operations, Donna Sherringham said the initiative had proven to be a great success with the medical staff able to adjust the face masks to fit their faces properly, ensuring full protection from any infection.

“The ear saver straps are a very popular item not only at GV Health, but other health services around the country as they are extremely comfortable for staff that has to wear face masks for long periods of time,” Ms Sherringham said.

“We are so thrilled that one of our local schools was able to undertake such a great initiative and we sincerely thank Goulburn Valley Grammar School for its ongoing support in supplying the straps to GV Health.”

GVGS was originally approached by a local medical professional enquiring about the possibility of producing face shields. While researching the various face shield designs available, GVGS small team that came up with the idea of using the 3D printing equipment to help during the COVID-19 pandemic identified the ear saver devices as being another potentially useful item and suggested printing some.

GVGS Head of Information Systems, Trevor Pye said that while the ear savers were not the primary drivers of the project, they have turned out to be the most useful items.

“With 3D printing being used in a lot of industries now, GVGS has invested in this technology to provide students with an opportunity to become familiar with the concepts and processes involved, Mr Pye said.

“The opportunity to work with GV Health has been really exciting, showing students a practical application of the technology with the added bonus of community service.”

Two thousand of the colourful, plastic devices were hand-delivered to GV Health in June, with another two thousand about to arrive at the health service any day.

“They have been so popular with everyone using them, that we had to put in a request to make us some more,” Ms Sherringham said.

“Luckily GVGS was more than happy to help us out again and we cannot thank the school enough for their innovation and generosity.”

PICTURED: GV Health Executive Director Clinical Operations, Donna Sherringham and GVGS Head of Information Systems, Trevor Pye.