LANCASTER, S.C. — A Lancaster business that can trick out your truck or Jeep with custom gear is now doing the last thing they ever imagined: making devices to help doctors and nurses on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.
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"I'm passionate about off-road, and that's what we're all about," said Fab Fours owner Greg Higgs. He started the business in 2007 and employs more than 100 people at a plant north of Lancaster.
Fab Fours can make a truck or Jeep look rather intimidating, with a high-end metal bumper that seems straight out of a sci-fi movie.
Last week, Higgs got a call from a friend, Dr. Brandon Ritz, an emergency room doctor in Texas on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. Ritz has even moved out of his own home during this critical time, so he doesn’t put his own family at risk of catching the virus.
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Ritz urgently asked his friend if he could build something for him.
It’s an intubation box that can protect doctors while they intubate coronavirus patients, which is a very up close and personal process, putting them at risk.
The metal box is open on the bottom to cover the patient. It has two armholes in the side so doctors can perform intubation, and there’s clear plastic on top to protect them.
Higgs was moved by his friend’s request and knew he needed to act.
“What do I know about intubation boxes? Nothing. But I do know about going from an idea to a reality in a short amount of time," Higgs said.
In a matter of hours, he had one built.
Channel 9’s South Carolina Bureau reporter Greg Suskin was there Monday when new supplies came in to build more. Orders for tricked out bumpers are down and a quarter of the workers at Fab Fours are working from home.
Higgs said he’s trying to keep his plant going and his team employed. This project is helping others -- but also helping him do that.
"To be able to also do something to try to fight COVID, I mean it's personal to me,” Higgs said. “My buddy needed that box, and he's symbolic of all these frontline workers across the country."
Fab Fours is now looking to partner with medical suppliers to find a way to get those devices to the hospitals that need them.
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