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April 2, 2020 VIRAL BUSINESS 

Switcheroo: W. Haven firm retools on fly to make disposable gowns for health-care workers

PHOTOS | Contributed Thermaxx Jackets in West Haven is making protective gowns for healthcare workers.
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

A West Haven manufacturer is heeding the call for more personal protective equipment for those treating COVID-19 patients.

Thermaxx Jackets, at 14 Farwell St., is temporarily making disposable gowns to help during the crisis, company officials announced.

While one normally thinks of a jacket solely as what one dons during cold weather, the company doesn’t typically make products for people to wear. The 25-year-old Thermaxx ordinarily manufactures jackets, or covers, used as insulation for pipes, valves, heavy equipment and machinery.

“Thermaxx will not be able to solve the shortage, but we are doing everything we can to make an impact,” said Lawrence Campana, the company’s chief financial officer and executive vice president.

Thermaxx began to manufacture and donate disposable gowns to assist first responders in the fight against COVID-19 this past week. The company is donating the gowns for free, Campana said. 

According to the company, more than 80 organizations including hospitals, fire departments, ambulance services, and doctor offices requested more than 4,000 disposable gowns in just the first four days. Most requests have been from Connecticut.

“I am amazed at the talents of our team as we came together to send disposable gowns during this shortage,” Campana said. “From the incredibly high number of requests, we can see that there is a significant need for supplies locally and nationally.”

Over the course of a week, the company designed and tested gowns it could make rapidly using readily available materials. The temporary gown production line opened this past weekend, and by Monday, the first 14 organizations received Thermaxx gowns.

According to Campana, the company has temporarily halted making its insulation products and is focused solely on gown production. Many of its regular customers can’t allow workers to install its insulation products now anyway, because of the virus and social-distancing measures. 

As of this morning, requests were coming in for as many as 5,000 gowns, he said. 

“The need is just so great,” Campana told New Haven BIZ Thursday. “People have been commenting about how they are out of these gowns and the need is so severe.”

When asked how long Thermaxx can keep this up, Campana said he isn’t sure how long they will be making and donating the gowns. It is something they are taking day by day.

“The need is there, and we are happy to help,” Campana said. “We will run out of resources, but we aren’t thinking about that now. We are glad we have something for our employees to do, and we are motivated by the cause.”

Thermaxx also has shared its gown design with other companies. 

For more information, click HERE.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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