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Nevada State College Makes Donations to Support the Valley and its Healthcare Workers

May 1, 2020 | Campus News, Home Page Feature

Medical personal examining test tubes

To help the Southern Nevada community during the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty members at Nevada State College have teamed together to donate needed items to several organizations including 3D printed face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE), viral transport mediums and fresh vegetables grown at the campus garden.

The Mathematics Department at Nevada State College is supporting the Vegas Fighting COVID group by printing 3D face masks to help the healthcare workers in hospitals and facilities across the valley. Faculty members completed their first donation of 3D printed face masks on April 20 which included more than 67 face masks, 16 lower mask support pieces, and 9 tension relievers. Faculty members are printing an average of 12 face shields and 12 lower mask support pieces a day.

The Physical and Life Sciences department and its facilities management team gathered more than 30,000 pairs of gloves and more than 800 surgical masks from its personal PPE inventory to donate to Sunrise Health System’s hospitals which include Sunrise Hospital, Mountain View Hospital and Southern Hills Hospital.

The department also teamed up with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, College of Southern Nevada and Touro University to help the Southern Nevada Health District address the impact of COVID-19 by producing and donating more than 1,700 viral transport mediums (VTM) to the Southern Nevada Public Health Lab (SNPHL). The VTMs made in the Nevada State College lab is an important component of the COVID-19 collection kit as it is used to preserve specimens collected from patients. The Physical and Life Sciences department faculty’s production and donation of VTMs is particularly important for SNPHL’s personnel as it allows them to focus on testing.

In addition, more than 35 pounds of vegetables grown at Nevada State College’s campus garden, which is usually used for the campus café, have been donated to the Emergency Aid of Boulder City. Wendy Wilson who tends to the garden will continue to donate vegetables every Friday to food pantries and aid services that can take and store fresh produce.

The Nevada State College community will continue its efforts to provide needed supplies to various organizations. Nevada State College appreciates all of the first responders, medical professionals and community leaders who are working tirelessly throughout the pandemic to ensure the safety and health of our Southern Nevada community.

For photos and video showing the 3D printing, click here