With the outbreak of the coronavirus putting a strain on medical equipment supplies in hospitals around the country, Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) has offered up their manufacturing facilities to produce makeshift emergency medical equipment.

HSV is the performance-car offshoot company of Holden and continues to operate in Australia after General Motors decided to retire the Holden brand earlier this year. Owned by Walkinshaw Automotive Group, HSV is one of few brands to continue local manufacturing in Australia, importing pick-up trucks and vehicles from the US and converting them to right-hand-drive for Australian roads at their manufacturing facility in Clayton South, Victoria.

This process involves using 3D printers to develop prototype parts and components to test whether components will fit when rearranging the left-hand-drive vehicles.

However, this machinery can also be utilized to make medical equipment, including ventilators, with the high strength plastic used during development offering a sturdy temporary option.

And with hospitals continuing to be inundated with patients due to the growing spread of the coronavirus, HSV have offered to redirect their resources to ensure Australia has enough emergency medical equipment to treat patients.

Walkinshaw Automotive Group owner Ryan Walkinshaw told CarAdvice that they had been in contact with government officials and were in discussion to begin manufacturing the potentially life-saving medical supplies.

“We have actually put our hand up to make medical supplies, and primarily ventilators, for Australia. We have messaged various government contacts to explore this. Awaiting further response. The time to act is now, though, not in four weeks,” said Walkinshaw.

“We would need the blueprints to the design of these ventilators, but we can help once we have the right information.”

While additional ventilators would bring some welcome relief for hospitals, they are only a temporary fix. The temporary ventilators that HSV can manufacture are designed to operate for a few months at a time, not years.

HSV are not the only car manufacturers to offer up their expertise and resources to help the fight against the coronavirus, with many global brands also joining the effort.

In the US, General Motors has partnered with Ventec Life Systems in the US to scale up production of ventilators, while Fiat Chrysler has committed to producing 1 million facemasks per month.

Tesla’s Elon Musk has also announced that he has a team of employees working on making ventilators, although he hasn’t mentioned additional detail as of yet.

Source: Caradvice | Holden Special Vehicles offers to help state and federal governments manufacture hospital ventilators to combat COVID-19

25 March 2020