In this time of the global pandemic, the primary issue that everybody is dealing with is a shortage of medical supplies. The significant lack of supplies that we are dealing with is mainly concerned with the shortage of ventilators. Right now, we do not have enough ventilators to treat everyone.
The primary reason for this shortage; making a single unit is very time-consuming and is a tricky job. The companies that have been making medical equipment cannot make one in little time.
Since it is a complicated task, medical equipment companies cannot make ventilators with 3D printers or parts of ventilators.
In this situation, people need to understand that the shortage is not only in the states, but it is global. The case has gotten so bad that a few European countries are deploying their wartime mobilization tactics to overcome the shortage. Factories are trying to churn out more ventilators for their country and are stopping companies from exporting them.
Hamilton Medical is the world’s largest producer of ventilators. Their Chief Executive, Andreas Wieland, says that they saw a severely desperate situation in China, and they see the same condition in Italy and France. They say that Italy ordered 4000 ventilators, but they were only able to deliver only 400.
Currently, 900,000 people require ventilators. However, the government fails to meet that requirement because there are only 200,000 ventilators available. The existing machines and the ones that hospitals need to pull out from emergency stockpiles, as well as older devices in storage that are added to these 200,000 machines.
Even though times are insensitive, factories cannot quickly switch from making their first products to medical supplies. The most effective solution in this situation is to add a manufacturing facility to exiting plants.
To make this happen, the additional manufacturers need to bring ventilator manufacturers and the government on the same page. They need to ask both parties to convert the production lines. 3dpbm has come forward and is trying to get more manufacturing companies to highlight their production capability. They are asking institutions to connect with the ones that are in need.
Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay
