Since its launch in 2014, Thalia has been making premium guitar accessories like capos, picks, and guitar-branded smartphone cases, manufacturing its own products in a Northern California workshop.
Adhering to the state's shelter-in-place order, the company had temporarily closed its doors mid-March. But since then, Thalia owner Chris Bradley and his staff of about a dozen employees have pivoted away from capos, instead manufacturing intubation boxes for hospital workers treating COVID-19 patients.
Intubation boxes are used by doctors and other medical staff when hooking a coronavirus patient up to a ventilator. The procedure is dangerous for hospital employees because of the exposure to a sick patient's breath and phlegm while inserting a tube. Bradley says he got the idea to make the protective boxes after an emergency room doctor and friend asked him if he could.
That doctor, Gary Tamkin, told the Financial Times: "I basically sent Chris a picture of one of these boxes. ... Can you make these?’ I asked. ‘Frickin' eh I can make these! Absolutely,’ he said."
By April 5, Thalia was making 50 boxes per day, and the company is ramping up production of its "Thalia Boxes" to meet a demand of 200 boxes per day. While hospitals can buy one for $175, Thalia is donating intubation boxes to hospitals in need thanks to an ongoing GoFundMe campaign, which has already raised close to $30,000. Hospitals can request a box directly from Thalia here.
"My hope is that we will accomplish several things with this initiative," Bradley wrote in an email. "One, we will save lives and do our part to support the brave women and men on the front lines of this war. Two, we will put our team back to work during the shutdown. Rest assured that we will build all of the amazing Thalia products that you have ordered to help us during this shutdown just as soon as the 'shelter in place' order is lifted."
To learn more about Thalia Boxes and donate toward the initiative, visit Thalia's GoFundMe campaign.