O Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neurosciences, from the Santos Dumont Institute (IIN-ELS/ISD), is carrying out a national mapping of health professionals in the face of Covid-19 and intends, based on this work, to direct measures to reduce the risks of contamination in the field – among them, the possible expansion of the supply of shield masks, essential as protection in services.

The survey “Characterization of health professionals working on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19 in Brazil” is conducted online and open to professionals across the country. The questionnaire has 18 multiple-choice questions, will be permanently available and can be accessed at the following address: https://bit.ly/researchhealthprofessionalsdurantapandemia.

According to Edgard Morya, research coordinator at IIN-ELS and responsible for the study, the objective is to contribute to a better understanding of what leads to infection in professionals, as well as identifying the places where they are most vulnerable and solutions capable of helping. to protect them.   

“The mapping could help identify new shortages of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) inside and outside RN and could guide an eventual expansion of the Institute’s production of shield masks for donations to hospitals,” he says.

Shield masks

IIN-ELS started production of shield masks in March and, in around four months, produced more than 1,500 pieces of equipment of this type for donation to health units in Rio Grande do Norte and Paraíba. Fifty-four institutions benefited, in 20 municipalities. 

The masks are produced by researchers and master's students in neuroengineering at ISD and aimed at institutions that care for patients with Covid-19, or patients who may be asymptomatic transmitters of the disease. The donation is institutional, that is, it is not made directly from ISD to individuals. For this reason, it is the director of the interested institution who must contact the Institute (via email covid19@isd.org.br). 

'Shield masks', also called 'face shields', are essential to the work of healthcare professionals in procedures with a higher risk of contamination. They are, however, scarce on the market given the explosion in demand with the coronavirus (Covid-19) affecting the world.

Those produced at the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience (IIN-ELS), at the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), are donated and not sold. More information is available on the website: https://bit.ly/mascaras-shield-ISD.