Ferrari produces respirator valves and raises €1 million to fight the Covid-19 pandemic
Ferrari, a winner of the World Branding Awards, has started to produce respirator valves and fittings for protective masks at its Maranello plant as one of its initiatives in support of health workers treating coronavirus patients. The department where car prototypes are usually built is producing these thermoplastic components using additive manufacturing technology.
Some valves have been developed by Mares, a diving equipment manufacturer, tailor-made to fit their masks so as to create emergency masks to assist patients suffering from respiratory failure.
The logistics of the project were handled by Nuovamacut Gruppo TeamSystem, who also helped with the research of the different companies who contributed to the success of the project.
Other fittings are being supplied to Solid Energy, who will use them to transform Decathlon snorkel masks into aids to protect healthcare workers exposed to infection.
In the next few days, Ferrari plans to manufacture several hundred items of equipment that are already being distributed by some of the companies involved, with the coordination of the Italian Civil Protection, to various Italian hospitals including those in Bergamo, Genoa, Modena, and Sassuolo as well as to health workers in the town of Medicina, near Bologna.
In addition to Ferrari’s efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic, the company has launched a fundraiser to support the health system of the province of Modena and will be matching all of the donations made by its clients.
The initiative is the result of shared efforts by the company and its many international clients who, in the past years, have taken part at the wheel of their Ferrari cars in the Cavalcade, travel experiences organised by the Prancing Horse. Ferrari will replicate every amount donated by its clients. In a matter of days, the fundraiser has already reached the million Euro mark, and it will continue over the coming weeks.
Initial funds have immediately been made available to Modena, birth-place of Enzo Ferrari himself. The Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale (AUSL), the local health care unit of the Italian National Health Service, will use them to treat patients affected by Covid-19 and to purchase medical aids and equipment to counteract the infection.
Part of the funding will be employed in the expansion of Telemedicine, which allows for remote monitoring of citizens with potential Covid-19 symptoms through devices connected to smartphones or tablets via Bluetooth. Thanks to the Ferrari donations, the AUSL Modena is already using this technology with patients residing in the province’s nursing homes, who are already suffering from neurological disorders, and have been tested positive for the virus.
Ferrari has also recently donated an ambulance to AUSL Modena that is fully active and in daily use by the emergency department for all Covid related patients. The company continues to consider further actions to bring immediate tangible assistance to the community during the current emergency and in particular thanks the generosity of its many clients from around the world.
