SE Valley Times

The Arizona Air National Guard has been helping health care workers in the state by delivering materials from North Carolina needed to make protective gowns. 

On April 9, 20,000 pounds of materials were delivered to the Goldwater Air National Guard Base in Phoenix, according to AZ Central. Tempe fashion incubator FABRIC in Arizona can produce the reusable protective gowns for health care workers. 

"This is exactly what we talk about when we talk about a whole-of-community response,” Maj. Gen. Michael McGuire said in a video.

FABRIC typically has local designers create products, but is changing production during the pandemic. 

"Making [personal protective equipment] (PPE) for our health care professionals is probably the highest level of making something that's safe and effective as you can get," FABRIC co-founder Sherri Barry said in a video. "When we approached this project it wasn't just about creating [Dr. Ronald Gagliano, chairman of the department of surgery for Diginity Health in Arizona], perfect design, it was also us learning and becoming the experts we needed to be so we could make stuff safe and effectively." 

According to AZ Central, the Food and Drug Administration gave FABRIC approval to create the gowns for local health care workers. The company was certified to make two levels of protective gowns and Gagliano is helping them reach level three, AZ Central reports. 

The reusable gowns will be made from material that can be washed 100 times or more, Gagliano said in a video. The material also provides more protection than a disposable hospital gown. 

Without the North Carolina distributor, Gagliano said the Arizona National Guard wouldn't have been able to secure the material. 

"For the Arizona National Guard, we're in a huge debt," Gagliano said in the video.

The Arizona National Guard has also been helping the state out during the pandemic in different ways, according to AZ Central. The Guard has been helping food banks and grocery stores as ordered by Gov. Doug Ducey for them to help with COVID-19 responses in the state, AZ Central reports. 

They have also been helping the Navajo Nation by building a medical facility in Chinle, Arizona, U.S. Army Col. Tom Leaper said in a press release.