Bauer switches from protecting NHL players to shielding medical workers
Canadian hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer is offering to modify its production line to make protective visors for doctors, nurses and first responders.
The protective equipment to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic would be produced at the company’s innovation centre in Blainville, Que.
Bauer’s vice-president of products, Dan Bourgeois, says he has already received calls from Montreal police, firefighters and hospitals interested in the products.
Bourgeois says the company decided to adapt its hockey visor production after hearing Premier Francois Legault say manufacturers in Quebec could have a role to play if supplies of protective equipment run low.
Protection that allows athletes to give everything for their team is our heritage.<br> <br>Right now, we’re all on the same team. We’re repurposing our facilities to make face shields so that medical professionals battling COVID-19 can safely continue to help those most vulnerable. <a href=»https://t.co/pBiZuUWdVl»>pic.twitter.com/pBiZuUWdVl</a>
—@BauerHockey
The proposed full-face visors are made of plastic and contain anti-fogging material.
With non-essential businesses ordered closed in Quebec, the company is awaiting authorization from the provincial government before going into production.
