KINGSTON, ONT. -- Queen's University students may not be in class right now, but they are still hard at work making hand sanitizer for front line staff at the Kingston General Hospital.
"We have these people at the front lines of health care and we don’t want them to be worried about rationing hand sanitizer and other consumables," says Dr. Richard Oleschuk, who leads the university's chemistry department. "We want them to do the job that they’re doing and have the tools with which to do it."
For the past week, more than 30 students from different departments have come together to help.
"Since we’ve been out of the lab, you go a little stir crazy," says organic chemistry student Emily Albright. "Knowing we could help out local hospitals here was a big thing for me."
"We really wanted to contribute to society in some way," agrees fellow student Kardhik Devaraj.
"The hospital staff have been doing such wonderful work," says professor Dr. Philip Jessop. "Everyone appreciates their work and they need our support. This is one way we can support them."
One bottle takes about 45 minutes to make. The goal is to make about 30 per week.
It’s not an easy process, especially with physical distancing measures in place. The mixture of chemicals has to be just right, otherwise it could be ineffective, or even burn the skin.
Right now, it’s just for Kingston General staff but, in the future, the group hopes to expand and make enough for local long-term care homes.
"Everyone wants to help out right now," explains Jessop. "The graduate students are not able to do their research right now and we have the skills, so why can’t we help out?"
