All posts by : Vera

The main issue, as explained in a detailed New York Times article, is that, to put it plainly, “there aren’t enough ventilators to cope with the coronavirus“. The reason why there aren’t enough is that they are extremely difficult to produce and so it takes a long time, even for those companies that have been making these machines for decades. That’s why it’s not about making 3D printed ventilators but 3D printing parts to address ventilator supply chain issues.

CECIMO, as the European association for additive manufacturing, was requested by the European Commission to address its membership and query if it would be able to aid in producing equipment (for instance, valves or ventilators) that hospitals are lacking due to the COVID19 outbreak in Europe. This is how CECIMO fights COVID-19 In this moment of public health emergency as the healthcare sector is facing unprecedented challenges. In particular, the virus outbreak is causing severe shortages of critical medical equipment in hospitals or limited access to essential pieces, in particular valves or ventilators.

As a result of 3dpbm’s call for help to AM companies providing resources to help fight COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Zahid Fedial, an ER Doctor at the Aljawda hospital in Sudan, reached out to ask for support with respirators. The crisis in the African nation seems to be already much worse than thought. Africa had so far appeared to be somewhat immune to the spread of the virus but it seems that statistics may have been dramatically affected by lack of testing.