Local CWA Pitch in with Surgical Caps for Nursing Staff
The Broken Hill Health Service has an extra supply of surgical caps to help against COVID-19 thanks to the generous efforts of the local CWA.
Ms Fran Whitelaw, President of the Broken Hill CWA, said branch members wanted to do something to help the health service during COVID-19.
'We were all sitting home, feeling helpless. The CWA is usually out and about helping and we felt a need to do something for our community.'
The branch approached the hospital with numerous suggestions on how to help and support the staff '…as a way of saying thank you to these wonderful people.'
Many ideas could not be followed through due to clinical restrictions in the hospital.
However, it eventually led to a call for surgical caps. During COVID-19, surgical caps are recommended to cover the heads of nursing staff for infection control. They are washable daily with uniforms.
'So we reached out to all our members through social media and phone calls and everyone came on board to make these caps,' said Fran.
One community member has also made and donated a considerable amount of head bands for use by hospital staff.
Fran said some CWA members made caps and some were happy to donate material and some did both, she said. 'We also had non-members join us. It was filling a void and made everyone feel useful.'
One member hadn't sewn for 30 years but was very happy to be able to help her local community.
Over 100 surgical caps have been made and the request for help expanded to include Maari Ma and the RFDS.
'It was absolutely amazing the way people helped…it's the Broken Hill way!'
The Broken Hill Health Service was very appreciative of the efforts of all those involved in making the caps and head bands, said General Manager Melissa Welsh.
'This is another example of community members coming forward and looking at ways they can help the health service and we are very grateful,' she said.
'The variety of material patterns used in making them has also certainly been a talking point!'