During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and shields was significantly impacted to the point that healthcare workers were forced to reuse their PPE. In fact, a survey found that 87 percent of hospital nurses in the U.S. reported reusing at least one type of single-use PPE, placing them at greater risk of contracting the virus.

In response to this global shortage, many manufactures who had not previously developed PPE supplies pivoted their operations to help meet the demand. However, as these organizations were not previously established providers, it was still difficult for them to connect with the hospitals and healthcare facilities in need. That was until the development of Shield-Net, a valuable new resource that helped create these connections and in turn meet the increased demand for PPE among healthcare workers. For this episode, I am joined by Rebecca Alcock with University of Wisconsin-Madison to discuss her work bringing this new resource to life.