A breath-giving initiative

LAHORE: Perhaps the best corporate social responsibility (CSR) has come from an engineering components’ manufacturing body comprising small and medium entrepreneurs to produce US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved disposable ventilator -2,000 of which would be donated to the government by the end of this month.

Pakistan Association of Auto Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAPAAM) that supplies precision auto components to the leading global auto assemblers in Pakistan took this initiative in March this year when it was found that there was acute shortage of ventilators needed by COVID-19 patients. Import was not an option as ventilator manufacturers are overbooked at least for a year.

Our government though succeeded in buying some ventilators from China at high cost. The ventilator produced by Paapam would be retailed at Rs8,000 each (the price of similar ventilator in United States is Rs20,000 excluding freight to Pakistan). All component manufacturers (all Paapam members) have agreed to supply components for first 20,000 ventilators free of cost. Its three member companies would be assembling machines at their premises. Overall CSR contribution by Paapam will be Rs46 million. This includes a tooling cost of Rs22 million, testing jigs and fixtures/trial testing Rs8 million, while the cost of 2,000 to-be-donated ventilators would be Rs16 million.

The Paapam members have attained the expertise to produce precision engineering components. Its managing committee invited its members to volunteer themselves to bear the cost of moulds and dies of each component of a FDA approved ventilator being marketed by Xerox in the United States.

The trade association knew that the auto component manufacturers were already under stress even before the pandemic because the auto units manufacturing had declined on average by 45 percent. In April and May there was no production at all. Still nine of their members volunteered for this cause. The tooling of parts required an investment of Rs22-25 million. Through reverse engineering of the FDA-approved ventilators they produced each part with high precision. For some components they had to outsource the finances for which were approved from associations’ fund by its managing committee. They have assembled and tested it to the satisfaction of Pakistan engineering council. The device is named PV-1 (Paapam VENT–1). The PV-1 allows immediate ventilator facility to affected person on site, in homes, in emergency vehicles and off-site locations. The PV-1 is operated simply with supplied Oxygen Cylinder and is portable.

Vortran’s GO2Vent (Paapam PV-1) was designed for emergency use, natural disasters and disease outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. A gas-operated, disposable ventilator that can be set up within minutes and discarded after use by a single patient, it provides support via a secure airway and can be operated on a compressor, oxygen or air with a minimum of 10 liters per minute flow rate. The GO2Vent can provide continuous ventilatory support for up to 30 days and operates independent of Vortran’s APM-Plus. While the GO2Vent is not a replacement for ventilators found in intensive care units (ICUs), it is widely used in emergency situations, inter-hospital transport and MRIs. Given the shortage of ICU-grade ventilators, medical professionals are utilising tools like this and other technology to support patients who do not yet or no longer need an ICU-level breathing device, which can be freed up for another patient.

It is pertinent to note that mechanical ventilation is part of the arsenal of supportive care, clinicians use for COVID-19 novel coronavirus infected patients with the most severe lung symptoms. A COVID-19 infection can cause fluids and mucus in the lungs that block oxygenation of lung tissue. Mechanical ventilation can help support COVID-19 patients breathing until their immune system and treatment can clear the infection and proper lung function is restored.

Complete project details with all working drawings, instruction manuals, specifications and data have been submitted to Pakistan Engineering Council and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan. Joint test and trails with designated PEC team have been successful.

Modification in the ATP (acceptance test procedure) for mechanical ventilators has been entrusted to Paapam technical team and will be shared with PEC by June 4, 2020. Endurance test for 1 million cycles is under process and is expected to be finalised before June 10, 2020.

Paapam would be ready for Bulk production with a lead time of ten days after approval from DRAP (Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan) with an initial daily production of 500 sets.