Photo credit: BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions
New Documentary Style Film Spotlights DuPont and Eva Ferranti Collaboration to Protect Frontline Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, DuPont has used its innovation to increase production of its Tyvek® personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep front-line healthcare workers safe. A new mini documentary style film, produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions, tells a compelling story of how the company partnered with Eva Ferranti, a high-end fashion designer to overcome PPE shortages and supply a major European hospital with vital protective garments. The PPE proved critical to protecting doctors and nurses tasked with treating COVID-19 patients.
<center><em>This video was produced for DuPont by BBC StoryWorks, the commercial content division of BBC Global News.<br>Photo credit: BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions</em></center>
The rapid spread of COVID-19 in early 2020 overwhelmed many European countries, putting hospitals, and their staff, under unprecedented pressure to care for infected patients. Robert-Schuman Hospital in Luxemburg was among several health care facilities that faced dramatic shortages of essential PPE, such as medical gowns and coveralls.
Photo credit: BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions
To address the challenge, the hospital turned to Eva Ferranti to shift its garment production to meet critical PPE needs. Tasked with this unusual request, the designer joined forces with DuPont to put in place a customized PPE supply chain. The documentary shows how Eva Ferranti’s production line was quickly repurposed to manufacture coveralls and gowns using DuPont™ Tyvek® protective fabric. The material was chosen due to its industry-leading performance that fully met Robert-Schuman Hospital’s expectations in terms of PPE quality.
Photo credit: BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions
<span class="fontsize20"> Valérie Pierret, Global Marketing Manager at DuPont said, </span>
“We knew already that the situation at the hospital in Luxemburg was dire. So, we immediately decided to give the highest priority to this initiative. This was the best way to short-cut the long production pipeline and to have the PPE ready for the healthcare workers.”
Photo credit: BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions
DuPont increased its production capacity throughout the pandemic to ensure a steady supply of Tyvek® protective material. Eva Ferranti, which, on average, produced just 10-20 tailor-made suits per week, was able to increase its capacity to around 500 protective garments per day.
Dr. Wilmes, the Robert-Schuman Hospital doctor
The film, part of the Connecting the Dots series, was produced for DuPont by BBC StoryWorks and presented by MedTech Europe. Please discover the series and the DuPont film at the following link: http://www.bbc.com/storyworks/connecting-the-dots/dupont-personal-protection.
