MARION, Ill. (KFVS) - A Heartland man is helping design isolation units for COVID-19 patients in Thailand.
They are called Mobile Negative Pressure Isolation Units and are designed to be placed around patients to help protect the medical staff from the virus while they help the patient.
Thanet Natisri lives in Marion, Ill. and even operates a restaurant called Thai-D Classic Thai Cuisine.
When not at work, he is remotely working with a team of engineers and doctors in Thailand to help health care workers be protected from their patients with COVID-19.
"We actually have a lot of doctors infected with the virus from the patients because they don't have the right equipment, especially masks and isolation chambers," Natisri said. "So I think these units will be really helpful a lot."
They just finished two prototypes for the isolation units and sent them to a factory in Thailand. They have secured enough funds for 100 units to be made.
Natisri also is now working on a design for a testing center to help healthcare workers be safe there as well.
“We are going to build it to have a proper ventilation for when the patient comes in and we’ll have a safeguard in,” Natisri said. "For example, we’ll have a sort of a wall to separate the patients to the doctors so the doctor won’t risk infection.
He said they are working on that testing center prototype now and should be a couple more weeks to be able to get funding for building it.
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