COVID-19: Looking for Helpers in the Medical Hardware Community

By Rob Ryan-Silva, Global practice specialist and director, DAI Maker Lab Image: CDC/Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAMSMarch 20, 2020As the COVID-19 pandemic makes its way across the globe, and even well-resourced health systems struggle with the availability of critical supplies needed to treat patients, initiatives have emerged in the hardware community looking to help solve the shortage of physical supplies.When looking to bring the supply chain for critical goods closer to where they are needed in emergencies, Field Ready comes to mind. It has more certified open source hardware designs than any other organization, and many of the items in its catalogue—like its Air Pollution Face Mask, Oxygen Supply Fitting, Ventilator Connector, and other designs—could be useful for frontline health workers running low on critical items during this pandemic. Some designs are 3D-printable and some come complete with Ikea-style wordless assembly instructions.One Facebook group is making furious progress toward developing an open source ventilator.A main cause for concern globally is the lack of available ventilators to meet demand of sick patients. We’ve seen this in Italy. The hardware community is attempting to take on this massive challenge, too, and in surprising ways.Facebook groups are not a typical platform for collaboration in the hardware community, but the Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies group ...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Community Engagement Technology Private-Sector Approaches Source Type: news