Edinburgh Emergency Medical Supplies
If you are an institution in need of face shields, please fill out our request form. Someone will be in touch for further details within 24 hours.
Who are we?
We are an autonomous group of action-minded researchers, engineers, academics and volunteers who have responded to the COVID-19 outbreak by pooling our abilities and resources with the aim of providing personal protective gear to front line healthcare professionals.
As it became increasingly clear that COVID-19 would become a global disaster, the users of the Edinburgh Hacklab came together in consideration of what could be done to help address some of the glaring needs that were emerging.
What are we doing?
Initially, our attention turned to ventilators which were determined to be too complex to produce in the timely manner required. After considerable deliberation and research we settled on face shields. We took to experimenting with designs and came up with several prototypes which were taken to The Borders hospital. They were ranked on clarity and stability. The hospital staff approved 2 models, one 3d printed and the other designed to be made by hand.
In the following days, we established reliable production of 3d printed face shields, and production began in earnest at the start of April 2020.
Face Shield Production
By 21 Apr 2020, we had produced 10 thousand face shields, which we have delivered to our healthcare workers in Scotland’s leading hospitals.
Production has continued since. Injection moulding has grown our production capacity, and we look forward to manufacturing more masks to meet demand.
This has all been made possible by the generosity of the volunteers giving their time, donations from people inside the team, and a crowdfunder that has raised over £30,000 from the public.
Support the Effort
If you would like to support us monetarily, we have a crowdfunding campaign. Money raised goes towards material costs and fuel for delivery.
Otherwise, you can also volunteer! Find out more at our Volunteers page.
If you are a company, please feel free to contact us. Edinburgh EMS is supported by the following groups and companies:
- Edinburgh University
- Heriot Watt University
- Edinburgh Hacklab
- 1partCarbon
- Edinburgh Systems
- Makerbee Labs
- Full Duplex Communication Services
- Hobthross
About the Movement
It seems we are part of a fast growing global movement of people and organizations becoming proactive in the interest of public health. In a way, it is as though all previous localized disasters are happening simultaneously, and, as such, people, organizations and institutions everywhere are mobilizing as they can to help.
We are working alongside the University of Edinburgh who are deploying state-of-the-art equipment and expertise to help scale up our operations. We are also implementing an outreach strategy with the aim of supporting as many other similar operations as possible, irrespective of scale or location. In times such as these, we believe that newly idle resources and people can be put to use with great effect and impact. Doing so not only helps provide desperately needed PPE, but also empowers and energizes people of all ages and abilities that are stuck at home and looking for a way to help.
Contact Us
- For general enquiries, contact
contact@edinburghems.com. - To request face shields, please fill out our form. Someone will be in touch for further details within 24 hours.
- If you have questions about the request process outside of requesting face shields, please email
requests@edinburghems.com. - The Scottish Government requests that if you are a health worker experiencing difficulties obtaining adequate PPE, you should email
covid-19-health-PPE@gov.scotimmediately. - Please note: We are not the Scottish Government, nor are we endorsed by them. We are just making our best effort to bridge the gap.
- If you have questions about the request process outside of requesting face shields, please email
- Members of the public who'd like to get involved should contact our Volunteering Co-ordination Team at
volunteer@edinburghems.com. - If you would like to add your printer to our printer farm, please contact
manufacturing@edinburghems.com. - For Press and any other enquiries, email
press@edinburghems.com. - For issues with this website, contact
webmaster@edinburghems.com.
If you want to print at home, please look at the resources below for advice.
Resources
Much like the EEMS Manufacturing Facility itself, the EEMS website is still actively in development.
In the mean time, the current resources are available: