Respiratory support across Canada is limited, with demands from citizens increasing daily amongst the Covid-19 Pandemic. The delayed action from Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Government has prompted minimal supplies for testing Covid-19 or practising social distancing measures. It’s inspired a collective of Montreal Hospitals to begin challenging their local citizens to design low-maintenance ventilator masks. These masks would be provided to Canadian citizens in hotspot locations without protective gear.
This Canada-wide issue is following suit globally, with healthcare professionals worldwide being forced to select which patients will live and which will die. Multiple medical institutions want this unfortunate demand to be obliterated. That’s why the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, with the assistance of McGill University Health Centre & Research Institute, are collecting concepts from participants until March 31st.
Whoever is selected with the best product will receive $200,000.00 under the “Code Life Ventilator Challenge”. Participants will need to design a low-cost ventilator mask that is easy-to-use and easy-to-build with home-based products. It’ll enable self-isolated Canadian citizens and medical officials to create these masks for those in need of immediate assistance.
The Montreal General Hospital Foundation is recommending that participants create designs through 3D Printers. Multiple corporations globally have access to 3D Printers, with home-based individuals also owning these products. It’ll enable potentially thousands to develop these masks and distribute them to their loved ones. MGHF implemented a conditional factor that required the 3D Printer design to be widely available under a free download.
Health officials with gleam outlooks on the Covid-19 Pandemic state that 70% of the world’s population could become affected by this virus. Creating these products within a period of two or four weeks could save the lives of millions. That’s the ultimate goal for this Montreal-based association, who are drastically concerned about the availability of medical supplies to Canadian citizens.
Covid-19 in Canada
The coronavirus pandemic across the Canadian Provinces has become severe, with 1000+ reported infections occurring throughout the nation. Ontario and British Columbia are seeing the highest rates of exposure, with a large percentage of Canadian citizens avoiding the recommendations of medical officials. There’s also been a substantial decline in available food, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, baby formula, medical masks, ventilator masks and medical gloves. The limited availability of products is forcing the Canadian Government to alter manufacturing processes across the entire country.