It doesn't have to be.

Patients being treated in intensive care for COVID are being looked after by the most wonderful staff. But the PPE they must wear makes them look like terrible mask-wearing interrogators.

If you're confused because you're very ill this is really distressing and you have no idea what that wonderful person looking after you really looks like. And when they talk to you the muffling of the mask means they often can't hear your name when you tell them.

We'd like to make every staff member a large badge to wear over their PPE with their smiling face and their name. This will make the patients realise there is a loving, caring human under their they can talk to.

The badges we have made by DIY don't last long (it's tough working like this) so we'd like to get properly made durable ones. So this is the plan for the view change from the patient's perspective to they realise there's a human in there. The badges are pretty big.

That's a lot of money!

The durable badges are a lot more expensive to make than DIY ones (and with an intensive care unit that has suddenly more than doubled in size we need IDs for a LOT of staff, nurses, physios, pharmacists, dietitians, doctors, etc.). So this is why we're asking for help, to get the machine to make them so we can get as many staff as possible to look much more friendly to our patients.

It isn't a toaster…

…but it definitely looks like one. This is the sort of printer we're after. Big! And of course we have to buy the cards and inks too.

But if you were awakening and saw a photo of a lovely smiling face with a name on the person looking after you, you might feel a bit safer in their hands. Please help us to make this a reality. And improve our patients' reality too.

Thank you so much.

JKB