FAQ

Due to the fast spreading of COVID-19 the number of patients that are hospitalized in Intensive Care, has increased. In the worst-case scenario a shortage of ventilators arises in the Netherlands due to this increase. In such a situation the difficult consideration has to be made who is to receive intensive care. By developing this ventilator we hope to be able to provide intensive care for those affected by the shortage.

The team also wants to help other countries to tackle the shortage of ventilators. Therefore, we have shared our design and documentation open source to enable other countries to make use of our knowledge. In addition, we offer support to other initiatives worldwide.

We have developed an emergency ventilator for covid-19 patients that can be used when a shortage of regular ventilators occurs. The design requirements are set up together with ventilation specialists from the Leiden University Medical Center and Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. The AIRone has been extensively tested on functionality, electrical and mechanical safety and usability. The design verification report is available on this website together with our design and other documents.

We are producing 80 devices for the Netherlands. In addition, we have shared our design and documentation open source enabling other countries to make use of our knowledge. We offer active support to foreign countries and initiatives. By sharing our design, answering questions about the development, production or implementation and offering support, we hope to help other countries to tackle the shortage of ventilators for covid-19 patients.

No, we don't manufacture our ventilator for foreign countries. However, our design and documentation is open source available for use in other countries via this website. In addition, we offer support to other initiatives worldwide.

Our team operates conform the national guidelines against the spread of COVID-19. Many of our team members work from home. Some team members need to come to the faculty in person, to build and design the prototype. Those members work in small groups, spread across the faculty and keep a distance of 1.5 meter at all times. OperationAIR set up an infection protocol, which states that members with light symptoms of COVID-19 should stay at home and work from there. It also states that upon arrival at one’s workstation and multiple times per day, his/her laptop must be cleaned using alcohol wipes. The same is true for washing hands for at least 20 seconds with soap. Furthermore, team members keep each other up to date via online meetings on platforms as Skype and Zoom