The automakers of various nations such as the US and India have come to the rescue when almost the whole world is facing supply shortages during this ‘wartime’ with corona. Owing to the fact that the global healthcare amenities are facing the dearth of even the quintessential medical devices, such as ventilators; various automotive companies have entered this realm. Simply put, the ventilator facilitates the process of breathing in the body when the lungs fail to perform their operation naturally as a result of any disease. This provides the patient time to fight and recover from the infection. There are many types of medical ventilation available serving different patient needs. Every nation is trying its best so as to control the outbreak, especially in the highly populated economies like India where it will get difficult if the spread reaches to the community level.
As of now, the rapidly spreading of COVID-19 is leading to the inevitable shortage of ventilators which has insisted for the production of creative solutions, with which, the world’s automotive manufacturers are trying their luck in the manufacturing of ventilators for this global pandemic. In this respect, in March 2020, Mahindra Group announced to break new ground in the ventilators industry, to cater to the increasing demand for ventilators in India and all across the globe. Talking about other geographies, the US has always come forward in term of bringing innovative solutions to people. So it’s no wonder that automakers first responded to requests for help in a hurry to address the serious shortage of ventilators in the US due to the coronavirus epidemic. So far, Ford, GM, Toyota, and Tesla have promised to help with ventilators production which have rather temporarily closed their plant for the purpose of automotive production. It was announced that GM had issued a defense production law to “accept, implement and prioritize” the ventilator’s federal contract.
Despite the assistance from these manufacturers, it couldn’t be denied that switching right from the production of a car to a ventilator is not at all easy. A ventilator is a complex machine that uses sophisticated software and special parts, and companies that want to manufacture it face multiple obstacles, including intellectual property rights, the need for specially trained workers, regulatory approvals and safety considerations. Companies like 3M and GE have come forward to work with Ford to create ventilators. So far, automakers have announced that they are working with existing ventilator manufacturers to help increase production. Some companies like Ford (F) and GM (GM) produce ventilators in their own factories. In the US, there are concerns that the lack of a ventilator is heading to a situation like Italy, where doctors have to choose patients to use potentially life-saving machines. The hospital used an experimental solution such as placing two patients in a hospital. According to the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, there are about 160,000 ventilators in the US, but up to 740,000 may be needed in the forthcoming time.
