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Hockey gear manufacturer to switch from protecting players to medical staff

MONTREAL — Canadian hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer is offering to modify its production line to make protective visors for doctors, nurses and first responders.

The protective equipment to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic would be produced at the company’s innovation centre in Blainville, Que.

Bauer’s vice-president of products, Dan Bourgeois, says he has already received calls from Montreal police, firefighters and hospitals interested in the products.

Bourgeois says the company decided to adapt its hockey visor production after hearing Premier Francois Legault say manufacturers in Quebec could have a role to play if supplies of protective equipment run low.

The proposed full-face visors are made of plastic and contain anti-fogging material.

With non-essential businesses ordered closed in Quebec, the company is awaiting authorization from the provincial government before going into production.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2020.

News from © Canadian Press Enterprises Inc., 2020