About Us
About the Founder
Variety is the spice of life. After working through high school and college as a laboratory technician, billing specialist, medical receptionist, and medical assistant for her pediatrician mother, Pam graduated with her Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering. Post graduation, she has held jobs in Healthcare, Defense, and Automotive. She found herself being a band mom for 8 years, attending every football game, marching band competition, and parade that her daughters played in. However, whenever it rained, all the flutists and clarinetists had to put away their instruments so the pads on their instruments would not get damaged. With the invention of the Musical Instrument Rain Shield, she is hoping that woodwind players around the world never have to sit out another outdoor event due to inclement weather!
About the Shuck Shield
After finding myself furloughed from my hospital job of 14 years due to Covid-19, I set off trying to help with the problem of PPE shortages throughout our local hospitals and nursing homes. After modifying an open source face shield to make it latex free, adding a splash of color to the headbands, and getting approval from frontline caregivers, the Shuck Shield was introduced! Drawing upon several years of working in industry as a manufacturing engineer, I developed simple jigs and assembly processes that allowed my family member volunteers to continue the assembly line when I was called back to work to help set up Detroit’s Covid field hospital. Between the 4 of us we fabricated and donated 2,000 full face shields in 2 weeks to Michigan hospitals and nursing homes that had severe shortages.
Having family in various performing arts fields steered me toward helping solve the problem of minimizing aerosol spread when playing various woodwind instruments. Clear Covid instrument shields for flutes, piccolos, clarinets, oboes, and saxophones allow unencumbered visualization of musicians' fingering while still minimizing potentially dangerous virus spread. Exhaled air escapes these woodwind instruments from all keys so just adding a bell cover does not adequately prevent virus spread. The standard face shield was then modified to seal the gaps at the top and sides and to add a self sealing instrument access port for flutes, piccolos, and saxophones. These musical instrument shields and musicians face shields offer options to the heavy, opaque fabric items that are currently on the market.
Purchase, Donate, Custom Orders
If you would like to purchase bulk musical instrument rain shields, clarinet rain guards, flute rain covers, or flute wind guards for your marching band, please contact info@bravabiomedical.com to arrange payment and delivery.
Using American Rescue Plan (ARP) Funds for Purchasing Items
Spending Deadline to submit funding requests is September 30, 2024
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021 provides funding for K-12 schools with eligible costs incurred between March 3, 2021 and December 31, 2024. Some of the requirements for receiving funding include:
- Planning and implementing activities related to summer learning and supplemental afterschool programs, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during the summer months. (e.g. summer and after school marching band practices)
- Delivery of services during extended school year programs and/or summer enrichment programs for all students such as summer dance, band, choir, orchestra, theatre, or art camp and summer enrichment programs including extension activities outside normal school hours to support a successful return to school
- Purchasing masks, or other protective equipment, for use in the arts education classroom: Instrumentalist or singer masks
For middle and high school bands that play outside during marching band season, holiday parades, or other public performances, purchase of Brava Biomedical LLC products qualify for government funding. Additionally, because the products were originally designed as Covid shields, they serve multi-purpose as Covid, rain, and wind guards.
To submit purchase requests, contact your principal or Administration's business operations manager for assistance in applying for ARP funds. We can also supply an invoice for the purchase which can be submitted with the funding request. Once the request is approved, the products will be shipped directly to the school. As long as there are unspent funds left in your school district's ARP allocation, these purchases would be allowed through September 30, 2024. Those allocations include American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER III formula, ARP Section11t Equalization, and Section 11bb funds.
Free Woodwind Rain Guards Through American Rescue Plan Funds
If your school's marching band needs woodwind rain guards, submit the request through your school before 9/30/24