A Montezuma County woman has made and given away hundreds of plastic tags that hook onto the elastic ear cuffs of medical face masks to relieve pressure on the lobes.
A MONTEZUMA-AREA ENGRAVER IS GETTING FLEXIBLE WITH PLASTICS TO GIVE FRONTLINE WORKERS A LITTLE MORE COMFORT ON THE JOB. THANKS FOR WATCHING THE LOCAL NEWS NETWORK, BROUGHT TO YOU BY KESSEE MOTORS IN CORTEZ. I’M WENDY GRAHAM SETTLE. ACROSS THE COUNTRY, LASER ENGRAVERS ARE USING THEIR EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES TO HELP WITH THE CORONA VIRUS CRISIS. SO, WHEN MONTEZUMA’S ONLY ENGRAVING AND AWARDS BUSINESS ORDERS PLUMMETED TO ZERO FOLLOWING THE STATE'S STAY-AT-HOME REGULATIONS, RYAN’S CUSTOM PRODUCTS CO-OWNER MARCIE RYAN USED HER FREE TIME, HER LASER ENGRAVER, AND A SUPPLY OF PLASTICS TO MAKE MEDICAL FACE MASK CLIPS. SO WHILE WE WERE STUCK AT HOME, I HAVE LOTS OF PLASTIC, WHICH IS IF YOU CAN SEE THIS, THIS IS LASER ENGRAVING PLASTIC AND IT'S WHAT I TYPICALLY MAKE THE TAGS OUT OF. ONE OF THE FILES WAS FOR MAKING THESE STYLE OF CLIPS, WHICH HOOK ONTO THE ELASTIC BEHIND THE EARS OF YOUR FACE MASK. AND I CALL THEM EAR SAVERS. AND ANOTHER STYLE OF CLIP WAS THIS. THIS IS MADE FROM A VERY FLEXIBLE MATERIAL. IT'S VERY THIN AND THIS STYLE IS MORE ADJUSTABLE FOR PEOPLE WITH BIGGER HEADS OR JUST TO GET A DIFFERENT COMFORT LEVEL. AND THE COOL THING ABOUT THE MATERIALS THAT THESE ARE MADE OUT OF IS THAT THEY CAN BE SANITIZED AND REUSED. ONCE SHE MASTERED MAKING THE CLIPS, SHE WANTED TO GET THEM OUT TO THE FRONTLINE WORKERS WHO NEEDED THEM MOST:SINCE WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DOWNTIME, I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING THAT COULD HELP FOLKS SPECIFICALLY IN THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY. SO WE'VE BEEN MAKING TONS OF THESE, PROBABLY MADE OVER 900 OF THESE, AND I'VE BEEN PACKAGING THEM UP IN LITTLE BAGGIES LIKE THIS AND DROPPING THEM OFF TO A HOSPITAL, DOCTOR'S OFFICES, THE VET, NURSING HOMES, ANYBODY WHO IS DEALING WITH THE PUBLIC AND WEARING MASKS A LOT. RYAN EXPECTS DEMAND FOR THE CLIPS TO GROW AS BUSINESSES OPEN UP DURING TO THE SAFER-AT-HOME PROGRAM.SAFER AT HOME AS THE RESTRICTIONS ARE EASING UP. BUT AS THEY DO SO MORE PEOPLE ARE, LOOKING TOWARD UTILIZING MASKS WHEN THEY GO OUT IN PUBLIC, THE GROCERY STORE, DOCTOR'S OFFICES, HAIRDRESSERS, WHATEVER. SO RIGHT NOW THE CLIPS ARE REALLY THE BIG THING THAT I'M FOCUSING ON.TO MEET THE INCREASED NEED, RYAN CAME UP WITH A SOCIALLY-DISTANCED DISTRIBUTION PLAN. AND SO THE WORD IS OUT THAT I'M MAKING THESE, AND I'D LIKE TO SEE THEM GET TO INTO THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO NEED THEM. WE HAVE A DROPBOX AT THE BOTTOM OF OUR DRIVEWAY SO PEOPLE CAN JUST COME BY AND PICK UP A BAG OR HOWEVER MANY THAT THEY NEED. WE'RE LOCATED BETWEEN DOLORES AND CORTEZ, AND WE ARE IN A RURAL SUBDIVISION AND WE CAN BE A LITTLE TRICKY TO FIND. SO URGE PEOPLE TO GO TO OUR WEBPAGE, WHICH IS CORTEZ ENGRAVING.COM AND THERE'S A TAB THERE THAT SAYS DIRECTIONS. IF YOU, OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW, COULD BENEFIT FROM THE CLIPS, CONTACT RYAN’S CUSTOM PRODUCTS AT CORTEZ ENGRAVING DOT COM OR CALL 970.882.3391. THANKS FOR WATCHING THIS EDITION OF THE LOCAL NEWS NETWORK. I'M WENDY GRAHAM SETTLE FOR THE LOCAL NEWS NETWORK.
