Medical Ventilator Manufacturers ALREADY Increased Production

Schumer, Pelosi and the Media have Failed to get the facts right. There is no necessity for President Trump to enact the Defense Production Act. Manufactures of medical grade ventilators are ramping up production. Hospitals and storage contain sufficient equipment for the immediate needs.

Hospitals and governments need to place orders for manufacturers to ramp up production (materials and labor are not free).

Why do Schumer and Pelosi want to risk peoples safety with equipment not manufactured to medical standards?

WHY did state health departments and hospitals not begin preparing in December, January and February?

GE Healthcare says it is increasing production of ventilators and other equipment

(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel March 19 2020)

https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/health-care/2020/03/19/ge-healthcare-increase-production-ventilators-response-coronavirus-crisis/2875423001/

GE Healthcare said it has increased its manufacturing capacity of ventilators, which it makes in Madison, and other equipment in response to the coronavirus crisis.

A potential shortage of ventilators for patients with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, is one of the most serious vulnerabilities in the U.S. health care system.

An estimated 5% of COVID-19 patients become seriously ill and about half of them require ventilators.

“As the global pandemic evolves, there is unprecedented demand for medical equipment, including ventilators," Kieran Murphy, president and CEO of GE Healthcare, said in a statement. "We continue to explore all options to support this increased need."

The business, a division of GE Co., said it is adding manufacturing lines to its ventilator production and increasing the number of shifts to produce around the clock. It also said is it hiring additional manufacturing employees and shifting current employees to help meet the increased demand.

GE Healthcare did not respond to questions on how many ventilators it makes a week, how much it can increase production and whether getting components is a potential problem.

'We’ll take them all': Demand for ventilators spikes as coronavirus looms

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/demand-ventilators-spikes-coronavirus-looms/story?id=69597233

excerpt

Firms that make the machines said they are ramping up for coming needs. An official from General Electric told ABC News the company is “taking steps to maximize our manufacturing capability and output while ensuring our plants can continue safe operations.”

Officials at another manufacturer, Drägerwerk AG & Co., told ABC News they just received an order for 10,000 ventilators from the German government. “The delivery of the order will stretch across the entire year and requires a substantial increase of the production capacity,” a spokesperson said.

Additional articles:

Coronavirus: Ventilator Manufacturers Not Ramping Up Production — Yet

https://www.breitbart.com/health/2020/03/13/coronavirus-ventilator-manufacturers-not-ramping-up-production-yet/

Ireland:

Medtronic Increasing Ventilator Production to Address COVID-19 Pandemic

https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/03/19/2003071/0/en/Medtronic-Increasing-Ventilator-Production-to-Address-COVID-19-Pandemic.html

Sweden:

Ventilator Maker Increases Production

https://www.manufacturing.net/safety/video/21122831/ventilator-maker-increases-production

>>8483807

Medical Ventilator Manufacturers ALREADY Increased Production

The U.S. Needs More Ventilators. GM and Ford Might Help Make Them.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/ventilators-gm-ford-medical-device-makers-covid-19-51584623085

As public health authorities ring warning bells about a shortage of ventilators needed to treat the most seriously ill Covid-19 patients, two major car manufacturers said they were looking into helping manufacture the devices.

A General Motors (ticker: GM) spokesman confirmed to Barron’s that the company is evaluating the possibility of making ventilators, and looking into how it can be useful. Ford (F) didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but a spokeswoman told Automotive News that the company is in preliminary talks with government officials in the U.S. and Britain about making ventilators, and was investigating whether it was feasible.

Both of the auto makers, along with Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), announced this week that they were temporarily shutting down their automobile factories because of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Health officials have said that the need for ventilators to treat Covid-19 patients will vastly outstrip the supply. Ventilators are complex devices that assist breathing in patients unable to breathe for themselves.

As auto makers consider stepping in, major ventilator makers said Wednesday night and Thursday morning they were vastly increasing production. Early Thursday, General Electric (GE) subsidiary GE Healthcare said the company was committing additional manufacturing lines to the production of ventilators, and adding shifts so that the lines will be active 24 hours a day.

“As the global pandemic evolves, there is unprecedented demand for medical equipment, including ventilators,” GE Healthcare President and CEO Kieran Murphy said. “We continue to explore all options to support this increased need.”

GE Healthcare also said it was hiring employees, reallocating current staff and taking other measures to increase production.

Medtronic (MDT), another major ventilator maker, said Wednesday night it had already increased ventilator production by 40% and planned to more than double its ventilator manufacturing capacity. The company said it has more than 250 employees working on ventilator manufacturing in its Ireland factory, and would transfer staff from other Medtronic facilities to help double that number. Production at the plant is shifting to a 24/7 schedule.

“Medtronic recognizes the demand for ventilators in this environment has far outstripped supply,” Bob White, president of Medtronic’s Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, said. “No single company will be able to fill the current demands of global health-care systems. However, with all manufacturers increasing their production and through partnerships with governments, hospitals and global health organizations, Medtronic is committed to getting more ventilators into the market and to the right locations in the world to help doctors and patients dealing with Covid-19.”

The process isn’t likely to be fast. A spokesman for Vyaire Medical, a private medical-device manufacturer that was spun out of Becton Dickinson (BDX) and is a major manufacturer of ventilators, said an individual ventilator takes up to 40 days to manufacture.

>>8483807

Coronavirus: Plan to ramp up ventilator production 'unrealistic'

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51914490

Craig Thompson, head of products at Oxfordshire company Penlon, said the idea that other firms could switch production was unrealistic.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged engineering firms, including carmakers, to explore if they could make the life-saving equipment.

Ventilators are critical in the care of some people suffering coronavirus.

But there is concern the National Health Service will face a shortage of equipment as the virus infects more people.

The manufacturers association, Make UK, says that it would be possible for some specialist engineers to scale up production under licence.

Ford, Honda, car parts firm Unipart, digger maker JCB, and aero-engine maker Rolls Royce are among companies looking into the feasibility of switching some production.

Medical ventilators are used to provide oxygen to patients with breathing difficulties, but there are not nearly enough of them to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

The Department of Health has revealed that in a worst case scenario the NHS will need an additional 20,000 of the machines. The NHS currently has about 5,000 adult ventilators and 900 for children in critical care facilities.

The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, has tweeted asking for help from "all manufacturers who can support our National Effort for coronavirus ventilator production".

But Penlon, which makes anaesthesia machines that include a ventilator, is cautious about hopes that other companies can start making the equipment.

"The idea that an engineering company can quickly manufacturer medical devices, and comply with the rules, is unrealistic because of the heavy burden of standards and regulations that need to be complied with," said Penlon's Mr Thompson.

He said "the focus should be on existing medical device companies increasing supply of ventilators".

His firm makes 750 machines a year and could double production, given time. In the short term he could provide the NHS with up to 200 more machines.

"The manufacture of medical devices, such as ventilators, is highly regulated," Mr Thompson adds. "Typically a new medical device takes two or three years to develop and launch."