Emergency Face Shield

Hi Folks,

I'm an emergency room nurse and a lifelong maker. Given the huge national problem securing appropriate personal protective equipment for the COVID-19 crisis I decided to post this very easy and cheap method to make face shields. When an infected person coughs or sneezes, the associated airborne droplets can land on the mucus membranes around your eyes and cause infection. A face shield like this is an excellent tool but must be paired with a respirator to provide complete protection.

Note 1: I'm documenting the next steps with a sheet of paper because the clear plastic
didn't show up well in the photos.

Note 2: The cutting dimensions of this project are not critical at all.

A pair of glasses: Prescription, over-the-counter, readers, cheaters, or safety glasses should work fine.

Clear report covers: These are the cheap covers with the slide-on plastic binder.

A pair of scissors.

A hole punch. (Optional)

Scotch tape. (Optional)

I bought these clear report covers from the local office supply place for a buck fifty for a pack of six. The ones I got were very slightly fogged. You'll want to source the clearest ones you can find. This pack of six covers will make twelve face shields. You can also use 8.5" x11" overhead projector sheets (does anyone even remember what these are???) or any other clear plastic sheet that has a little rigidity to it.

Cut a gentle curve across the folded edge of the report cover. This will leave you with two sheets approximately 8.5" x 11" in size. Set one aside for your second face shield.

Punch holes on the sides of the shield about 1" in from either side and about 1.5" below the curved edge you cut in Step 2. The template shown above will give you a better idea where I'm talking about.

If you don't have a hole punch you can easily cut these holes with a pair of scissors by just folding the plastic over and cutting a "V" in the appropriate location.

Slip the ear pieces into the holes and then rotate the glasses such that the lenses are touching the report cover as shown in the photo above. At this point you can try them on and adjust as needed. You can optionally tape the shield to the ear pieces of the glasses but I didn't find this necessary.

Congratulations! You've just made an emergency face shield! Remember, this is not sufficient without wearing a respirator with it.

Also, please note that this project HAS NOT BEEN TESTED OR APPROVED BY THE FDA OR ANY OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY!!! It -should- work just fine but if you get infected please don't come running after me! There are a lot of actions required to break the chain of infection and this is just one of them. Be smart, practice social distancing, and stay safe!