John Milkovich via Caledon Enterprise

Brothers Develop DIY Respirators To Protect Their Parents Working In Healthcare

Updated September 7, 2021

Two Canadian brothers have come up with their own respirator model using household items in an effort to protect their parents who work in healthcare, local news outlet Caledon Enterprise reported.

John and Matthew Milkovich from Caledon, Ontario, said they were inspired to develop the DIY face masks after becoming increasingly concerned about the threat of a personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage.

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Both of the boys' parents work in the medical field, their father as an anesthesiologist and their mom as a nurse.

YouTube | Matthew Milkovich

John, 20, who has just completed his second year in an integrated biomedical engineering and health sciences program at McMaster University, said he and his brother became concerned for their parents' well-being.

Although neither parent is currently on the front-lines of the outbreak, if cases continue to peak and hospitals fill up, they soon will be.

“We wanted to make sure they were safe,” John explained.

The boys came up with the idea to DIY their own respirators after watching a video of an Italian doctor doing the same for a patient.

YouTube | Matthew Milkovich

They quickly got to work, scouring their house for any materials that could be used to create the device.

In the end, the brothers were able to develop their respirator prototype using a snorkel mask, a 3D-printed adapter, and two anesthesia filters that their dad had available at home.

They have since made a YouTube video detailing the mask's design so that others might be able to make one themselves.

Since posting it in early April, the video has touched thousands of people spanning all of North America. Many who work in the healthcare sector have actually reached out to the brothers for the prototype, as well as the 3D printer STL file code for the adapter.

“We never expected it to reach this many people,” said Matthew, 17, who has just graduated high school and will be joining his brother at McMaster this fall in the same program.

Of course, the brothers said they are't encouraging people to ditch N95 masks in favor of their homemade replicas.

John Milkovich via Caledon Enterprise

“We never intended it to replace the N95 mask," John explained. "We don’t want to see development of the N95 plummet."

Instead, they hope to see their unique design implemented as an alternative if/when a mass N95 shortage occurs, so that health care workers, like their own parents, can still be protected while combating the coronavirus.

h/t: Caledon Enterprise

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