Local Businesses Align to Support PVA Emergency Ventilator
Cohoes, NY – March 26, 2020 – PVA, a global supplier of automation equipment servicing the electronics, medical device, telecommunications, semiconductor, and defense industries, has submitted their emergency ventilator to the FDA in an effort to receive emergency use authorization during the COVID-19 pandemic. “This is new for us,” states Frank Hart, Managing Director at PVA, “We do not know how long this approval is going to take. It is our hope that we can receive authorization swiftly and we can begin production immediately.”
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly indicated that the state is facing a shortage of 30,000 ventilators at the expected peak of the pandemic. The PVA design utilizes a concept of automated Ambu® bag actuation. While an emergency ventilator is not intended to replace an FDA-approved ICU ventilator completely, this portable, lightweight unit can help free up existing supplies or be used in life-or-death situations when there are no other options.
“New York is projecting a peak of COVID-19 cases in 21 days. At this point there is no resolution for how we satisfy the demand for ventilators,” continued Hart. “What we are proposing is an insurance policy to bridge equipment shortages with the potential to save many lives.”
PVA has outlined a production plan that would result in a minimum of 100 emergency ventilators to be produced daily. The ability to scale the ventilators to a more significant number started to take shape this week as over 30 local companies have lined up to offer their expertise since news broke about the ventilator on Tuesday. “The Capital Region has been unbelievable. So many people want to help. In the past 48 hours we have heard from manufacturing companies like Plug Power, Core Tech, and Applied Robotics lending engineering, assembly, logistics, and supply chain support. I’ve spoken to Fort Orange Press and Documentation Strategies about printing technical user manuals. The message has been consistent—let us help you with what we do best, and you worry about making as many ventilators as possible. If we get approval to proceed, this is truly going to be a community effort.”
For more information, please contact Managing Director, Frank Hart. You may reach him via phone at (518) 225-2203 or email at fhart@pva.net.
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PVA’s customer driven solutions are utilized worldwide in applications for printed circuit assembly, semiconductor packaging, medical device manufacturing, telecommunications, solar, and consumer electronics. Throughout the changing global manufacturing landscape, from laboratory applications to advance production systems, PVA provides technologies that deliver unmatched precision and reliability.