By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, July 21: It was a proud moment for Geoffrey Lee and his team when they received an official request to set up sampling booths they created at Petrajaya Hospital.
The request was a sign of assurance that what they had created is useful and not a waste of their time and effort.
“We received the request last week and today, we have set up the two sampling booths at Petrajaya Hospital.
“The request means a lot to us. It means that the effort and time that we spent in creating them is not going to waste. It makes us feel that our efforts are being recognised and what we have created is truly useful for the people.
“We appreciate the recognition as it will spur on and promote more local creative and innovative efforts,” Lee of Business Events Sarawak who led the project told DayakDaily.
During the Movement Control Order (MCO) period when the Covid-19 was at its peak, the team lead by Lee which included KC Bong of T.E.E.M Events and Exhibition, Frederick Ho of Techno Expo and others had pooled their efforts to create the sampling booths. The efforts were supported by business events industry members including Sarawak Multimedia Authority.
Inspired by what they saw the South Koreans were doing then and also by the fact that they wanted to give the best protection to the medical personnel who are risking their lives daily to fight the novel coronavirus, the team had produced the sampling booths.
The finished products were first set up at the Youth and Sports Centre which was then the main Covid-19 screening centre for residents of Kuching and its vicinity.
Following that, the booths went through a few phases of refining based on feedback from the medical personnel who were tasked to do swabbing of those coming for Covid-19 tests.
Later, the two booths were moved to the Sarawak Heart Centre and had since been used by the medical staff there to conduct swabbing.
“It was during the time when they (booths) were at the heart centre that we perfected them following a series of refining process based on the feedback of the medical personnel there,” revealed Lee who explained that the fine-tuning included the air conditioning within the booths as well as the installation of intercoms which allowed communication between medical personnel and those being tested.
It did not take the team long to perfect their design after the MCO was over. The main difficulty that the team faced in fine-tuning the booths during the MCO period was the lack of required material. For example, the gloves used must be of the right thickness. When the gloves are too thick, it is hard for medical personnel to properly conduct swabbing. If the gloves are too thin, they are not providing the protection the medical personnel need.
Apart from creating the sampling booths, the 3D Printing Team led by Lee also produced face shields for the frontliners during the MCO. The team also helped in making minor repairs and improvements for medical appliances in Sarawak General Hospital (SGH). Their efforts have also earned them certificates of gratitude from the hospital. — DayakDaily
