Speeding Masks to Hong Kong in the Fight Against SARS

O’Mara Products Inc. was able to quickly locate the half-million N-95 respirators (the minimum size needed to fight the virus) and have BAX Global begin air freight the initial 30 pallets to Hong Kong’s Ministry of Health. The load was picked up at four locations—Chicago, Grand Rapids, Rochester, and Los Angeles.

Another 75 pallets of the surgical-style facemasks followed to complete the shipment. “To come up with 500,000 masks immediately and get the first batch delivered within 48 hours was a monumental achievement,” says Craig Sobczak, O’Mara Products president. “Finding the masks was one thing, but getting them to Hong Kong as fast as we did is something else. BAX stepped up to the plate and made this happen. It was phenomenal.”