Medical providers are short on masks. Beaufort Co. sewing enthusiasts fill the gap
Editor’s note: This story was updated on March 25 to include information about donations to hospitals.
Some Beaufort County superheroes don’t wear masks. Instead, they sew them.
Christy Smith of Bluffton is one of the moderators of a popular local Facebook group, so when her neighbor, a nurse, said she was looking for someone to sew masks for medical workers dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, Smith put the call out online.
It was a Saturday night, and Smith never expected the flood of people who would be ready to sign on to the project.
“At this point, it’s not even been 36 hours, and the response has been overwhelming,” Smith said on Monday morning.
Her original post on the Bluffton/Hilton Head Ask and Answer Facebook page had 230 comments by midday Monday, and a new Facebook page called Masks 4 Heroes was in the works.
So far, Smith said, at least 30 people have volunteered to sew. Others are providing fabric or money to buy it, and still others have agreed to act as runners delivering supplies and picking up finished masks left out on people’s porches to maintain social distancing.
Smith, the office manager at Lowcountry Pools, does not sew herself, but she’s putting her organizing skills to use in this time of COVID-19 store closings and supply shortages.
“Elastic has been the hard thing to find,” she said.
The pattern Smith’s recruits are following requires at least two layers of pleated, tightly woven cotton fabric with elastic bands sewn on each side to go around the ears. Some of the masks have a pocket so medical workers can add a filter.
Smith said she hasn’t had to advertise the availability of the masks.
“Nurses and doctors and surgeons ... have reached out to me,” she said.
Anyone who would like more information about the Masks 4 Heroes drive may call 843-781-6148.
Helping the helpers
Nicole Roberts of Hilton Head sews little girls’ clothing through her business Millie Mae Clothing. When her children found their lives upended by coronavirus school closings, a quote from Fred Rogers came to mind.
Rogers, of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood,” famously said that, when he was a child and news was frightening, his mother comforted him by telling him, “Look for the helpers. .... You’ll know there is hope.”
Roberts and her four children — Colton, 11; Miller, 10; Dean, 7; and Lila, 3, who attend Sea Pines Montessori — talked about this and decided that they would not only look for the helpers in this case but also would find a way to support them.
“We were talking about ways to help as a family,” Roberts said. “We talked about how much doctors and nurses are doing.”
Roberts created a post on her business’ Facebook page asking whether anyone in the medical field could use a hand-sewn mask.
“We’ve had people asking from all over the country,” she said, listing places such as Las Vegas, New York, Arizona and Georgia.
“Most of the people who’ve asked for them .... are front-line nurses,” she said.
She said many have told her they like the cloth masks to wear over their medical-grade N95 masks, which are in short supply, to help them last longer.
Roberts said she did a little research and took ideas from several patterns. The masks she and her children are making have an elastic strap that goes around the back of the wearer’s head.
Over the weekend, Roberts and her boys cut out 100 masks and plan to sew them this week. Even 3-year-old Lila got involved by picking out fabric.
“Every little bit helps,” she said. “We want them to understand how important it is to give back.”
Hospital response
Sewing masks isn’t unique to Beaufort County. Groups all over the country have formed on social media with the aim of filling the need for masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Questions remain over whether the homemade masks are effective. Are they worth using? What if nothing else is available?
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Smith said health care providers who work at Savannah Memorial Health University Medical Center, Beaufort Memorial, Coastal Carolina Hospital and clinics on both sides of the Broad River have requested masks. The group’s first masks were delivered to Sea Pines Circle Immediate Care, she said.
Medical University of South Carolina, which originally was not accepting handmade masks, later said they would accept them in case they are needed later.
“The appropriate use of these cloth masks will be evaluated by infection control and infectious disease experts. If hand-sewn masks become necessary, they will be sanitized and sterilized before entering circulation,” the website says.
A spokesperson for Hilton Head Hospital and Coastal Carolina Hospital referred all donations to the hospital’s volunteer coordinator, who is taking names and contact information in case the need for masks arises. That phone number is 843-689-8201.
Beaufort Memorial on Tuesday released a list of ways the public can help the hospital, including by making masks and vinyl face shields. The hospital’s website includes several different patterns and a note that the items should come from non-smoking homes where no one is ill.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 4:03 PM.
