SALISBURY, Md.– With cases of COVID-19 on the rise and concerns over an expected, if not already existing shortage in medical supplies for hospitals, two companies on Delmarva say they are putting in a lot of work to do their part.
Trinity Sterile Inc., a medical supply distributor based in Salisbury, produces IV kits and distributes facemasks, among other items that are vital for medical workers on the front line of the pandemic.
Andrew Bauer, vice president of Trinity Sterile Inc., says his company has been working diligently to keep up with demand. "We've seen an uptick in business,” said Bauer. “However, we have been able to keep our back-orders to a solid minimum."
Bauer says his company’s ability to keep up with demand will largely depend on being able to source the supplies needed to manufacture its products.
And while Trinity is in the business of medical supplies, another company has made a hard pivot to help out in this crisis. Hardwire LLC, located in Pocomoke City, normally makes body armor and side armor for the military, police and others. Now, it is making surgical shields, hard plastic shields that cover the entire face of medical workers.
"We went from none on Monday,” said George Tunis, CEO of Hardwire LLC. “Now we're in like a 1,000 per day mode. Next week we go to 6,000 per day and our goal is 60,000 per day."
Trinity says it has the ability to produce 270,000-300,000 IV kits in a single day. Tunis says in order to keep up with the spread of COVID-19, mass production of at least 100,000 is key. He says the company is currently working on sharing its design with other manufacturers.
