Ford partners with 3M, GE to make respirators, ventilators and face shields | Hacker News Reader

Ford partners with 3M, GE to make respirators, ventilators and face shields

detroitnews.com

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If you'd like to help with the PPE efforts going to doctors, nurses, and other frontline staff, please come to @masksfordocs

Slack invite: https://join.slack.com/t/masksfordocs/shared_invite/zt-cyer3...

(dang, if you see this, I kindly request you sticky or pin this.)

Note: This is for portable battery powered respirators for healthcare workers to breath filtered air.

NOT for Ventilators used to keep patients alive.

Yeah, they mention ventilators a few times, but it seems they are talking only about respirators (ie protective N95 masks). Gov Cuomo just said today he has a projected shortfall of 30,000 ventilators and they aren't available anywhere. The FEMA stockpile is 20,000 of which they have been promised 400. Ford and GM can score some PR and help medical workers by producing respirators, but we could be facing hundreds or thousands of excess deaths unless the DPA is invoked to produce ventilators and needs to happen a month ago.

So Cumo wants all 20,000 ventilators for NYC, and I suppose the rest of the country can just fuck-off?

Considering NYC has about 8M population, that 400 is just about the proper allocation.

Well, there's a fourth dimension, time, and the number of _______ will vary over time in each geo______

I understand the stress we are all under but there is really no need for that language. If you heard his press conference he reiterated that NYC is just ahead of the nation and what is happening in NYC will repeat in the rest of the nation and he will ensure that the respirators are sent on to other parts of the nation once the peak passes in NYC.

"The governor also directly addressed the rest of the nation. He said he would not hold onto the ventilators in New York once the need passes and he pleaded for unity for amid a national crisis."

Source: https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2020/0...

Watch the video. He wants them all now because NY has 10x more active cases than any other state. All 20000 won't be even enough. They're projecting to hit a peak in 14-21 days. No other state is on pace to need them before then. Once the peak has passed, he'll pay to ship them anyplace else that needs them. They're not disposable, they are durable. If they don't all go now along with 10,000 then send body bags instead.

See the full Ford press release for more information: https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2020...

There are apparently plans in motion to work with GE Healthcare on "simplified" ventilators (under the guidance and direction of GE Healthcare). These ventilators will be produced at some Ford and GE Healthcare facilities.

This is in addition to respirators and face shields.

Going back to the patient kinds, there are several subtypes:

- mass casualty, which can run on batteries, compressed air, or line voltage, and operate outdoors. They're usually ruggedized so they can be used by in-theater military field hospitals or quickly deployed at pop-up field hospitals near major incidents.

- inpatient

- intensive care (ICU)

and then

- adult

- pediatric

- neonatal is sometimes broken-out from pediatric products

I would think the rarest combination would be neonatal mass-casualty.

Have a 3D printer? Have weird office supplies? Search for the 3D models for the plastic 8.5 x 11 (or A4) plastic used for transparencies, report covers et al.

Our local hospital here in the Seattle area is taking all that we can make.

To add context. That supplies the plastic screen. The printer is used to print the headband and support frame.

I'd imagine a PLA-printed headband would be very uncomfortable.

Indeed. But we recommend printing medical PPE out of PETG instead, due to its imperviousness to alcohol and bleach (for cleansing). twitter @masksfordocs

And yes, the wounds people face with even professional PPE are harsh. These medical first responders are wearing it 16h days..

The powered respirators can be very comfortable. They don't need a tight seal against the skin, so they don't have that to cause injury. The forced air leaks out around a loose seal, preventing contamination. The most comfortable design is probably a full head covering, with a loose stretchy collar fitted around the person's neck. That could even be porous fabric.

An excellent design would use a semi-rigid clear plastic helmet (like the plastic of a 2-liter soda bottle) with a Spandex neck collar. Another design is just a clear plastic bag.

Now imagine if, after this emergency is over, industries retooled like this to decarbonize.

Well, I guess we'll be ready for the second wave a couple weeks after Easter.

Actually maybe not, isn't that going to take them months to produce? Do you see an ETA in there? I can't find one.

(I mean the ventilators)

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