GUELPH-ERAMOSA – It’s in Jim Estill’s nature to read the news and then try to solve the crisis of the day.
The crisis of this day is COVID-19 and hearing the call of frontline healthcare workers, Estill, CEO of Danby Appliances, with locations in Guelph and Guelph-Eramosa, started to think about how he could pivot operations from manufacturing fridges and freezers to making ventilators.
“These are unprecedented times that required entrepreneurs and businesses to step up to help COVID-19 patients,” said Estill in a press release.
The well known philanthropist and Order of Canada member (2019) quickly realized he couldn’t do it himself.
So he partnered with ABS Friction, Crystal Fountain, JMP Engineering, and Baylis Medical, a Canadian-based medical device company, and together they will manufacture ventilators for hospitals, as the number of patients who will need them is expected to rise sharply in the coming weeks.
The group, which calls itself Ventilators for Canadians (V4C), received official approval from the Canadian government on April 7 to start manufacturing.
Some companies will manufacture parts. Estill said Danby will be assembling sub-components at its location in south Guelph and then it’s off to Baylis Medical for final assembly.
“I think we’ll start shipping completed ventilators in about five weeks,” he said in an interview on April 8.
His team has started reconfiguring the Danby site to accommodate a new assembly line and safe social distancing measures for employees.
“We’ll have hugely high protocols,” he said. “We can’t afford to get COVID-19 in the plant. If one person gets sick, we’ll have to shut down for 14 days and that won’t help anyone.”
Before the partnership with V4C got started, Estill’s engineers looked at field ventilators – the ‘ambubags’ that are squeezed by hand – and designed a machine to pump the bags mechanically.
“They are not nearly as good as the real ventilators, but they could be used as back-up,” he said, should the need exceed supply.
Ventilators take the strain off the patient’s lungs, supply oxygen and simulate the actions of breathing. If a patient needs a ventilator, they need it for about three weeks, Estill said.
Once a patient is on the mend, the mechanized ambubag might be enough and the specialized machines could return to use for the most urgent cases, thereby stretching the supply of medical equipment, he said.
The Canadian government ordered 30,000 ventilators from three different manufacturing sources, so the priority is to get the Medtronic PB 560 ventilators into hospitals, Estill said. They are lightweight, compact, familiar to hospital staff, and can be used to treat adults and children, officials say.
“At Ventilators for Canadians we know it is urgent for Canadians to come together with solutions to mitigate the threat of this pandemic,” stated Rick Jamieson, executive member of V4C and president and CEO of ABS Friction, in a press release.
“We are pleased to be part of this team, led by a world-class manufacturer, Baylis Medical … V4C will be there to bring additional Canadian manufacturing strength where needed most.”
Estill said Danby had already laid off staff and the move to ventilator production will enable him to bring some of them back to work.
