CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – UPDATE
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help New River Engraving to raise $10,000 to cover the cost of making the boxes.
According to Howery, as of Saturday requests for boxes had come in from Virginia, Maryland, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.
ORIGINAL STORY
A local business known for trophies and signs is now also trying to help protect doctors and nurses dealing with coronavirus patients.
It’s called an intubation box.
“They put this over the patient’s head and the doctor is able to work with this extra barrier here of plexiglass,” New River Engraving President Jay Nagle explained.
Nagle said the company started making the boxes after recently seeing a design from one of the company’s vendors and then the very next day watching the news and seeing one being used in Chicago.
“We were, like, ‘Wow. So they’re needing this already. They’re using this,'" Nagle said. "We just want to help. We’ve got some extra time now. We are busy, but we would work 24/7 to help put these out.”
Employee Andrew Howery said each box costs about $125 to make, but the company does not plan to charge for them.
“We’re trying to get them to all the local places first. Then, if we can source enough material to get them to people farther out that’s what we’d like to do," said Howery.
While the boxes are the main focus, the company is also considering making face shields for doctors and nurses.
“It’s going to take an effort from multiple sources like us to get health care people what they need, to get food banks what they need, so we’re just trying to do our part," Howery said.
If you’d like to donate money to help the company, or would like to order a box, call 540-382-0232 or email orders@newriverengraving.com.