SOUTH BEND — The shortage of hand sanitizer and masks is making it tough for those in the medical field to treat patients. Some companies are getting creative to help.

Tri-pac in South Bend manufactures a lot of aerosol-based products, but didn’t really focus a lot on hand sanitizers. It’s looking to double its production, and donate 30,000 units to help.

Paras Shah has received calls from his friends working in hospitals saying they need help.

“For me, my first instinct was we make all our employees wear masks anyways, so we have stock all the time. So, first thing he did was send out our stock to two different hospitals and clinics, with hand sanitizers as well,” said Shah.

Tri-pac has already donated 10,000 gloves and 5,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, and wants to give more.

“For us it was just about ‘let’s make as much as we can,’ and we are basically donating a portion of the profit as products to the people who really need it,” he said.

These extra production lines are being built to handle the increase. But higher demand means they need more workers.

Jason Nicodemus says he’s looking to hire 45 people, helping some who just lost their job.

“To know that there is an opportunity for me to provide a chance for somebody to come in, find a new home, find a new organization to set roots, it really means a lot,” said Nicodemus.

It’s not just a temporary fill either.

“We expect that when we come out of this we are going to be in a position to be able to continue taking advantage of the increased capacity that we built, so we hope to continue offering people a long stable opportunity to continue working.”

Already having to meet FDA sanitary guidelines, they have ramped up precautionary measures.

All employees must use sanitizer as they go into rooms, wear a mask, and have their temperature taken before entering.

“In addition to temperature scanning we are looking at social distancing as much as possible by staggering breaks, minimizing interaction group settings, and keeping in mind as folks are working on the line as well then we want to make sure we are practicing that social distancing as best as we can,” said Nicodemus.

Tri-pac also hired four more cleaners who are walking around and sanitizing the facility every half hour.

They hope to do their part in helping people get by.

If you are interested in applying, we have their contact here.

Source: WSBT