DOCTORS in virus-ravaged Italy are using a lifesaving hack during the pandemic – by turning scuba gear into makeshift ventilators.
As those on the frontline struggle with a shortage of vital equipment some quick-thinking medics are adapting snorkel masks to help fight deadly coronavirus.
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It's already been reported that doctors in the north of the country have been told to save ventilators for under-60s because of a desperate shortage.
Now they are using special 3D printed valves to transform full-face diving masks sold at high street sports shops into live saving medical equipment.
The idea started in Italy but is now being used in hospitals across Europe to provide the vital air flow needed to stop a coronavirus victim's lungs from collapsing.
The Erasme Hospital in Brussels even teamed up with engineers from Endo Tools Therapeutics to develop its own connecting valve to link the masks to its ventilators.
Frederic Bonnier, a respiratory physiotherapist at the hospital said: "They are to be used for patients with severe respiratory problems.
"The aim is to avoid having to intubate the trachea of the patient and put them on a respirator."
He helped design the valve that connects the mask to the BiPAP machines which feed pressurised air to patients struggling to breathe due to the pneumonia brought on by COVID-19.
The air flow helps prevent the collapse of the lung air sacs needed for the intake of oxygen into bodies and the exhalation of carbon dioxide.
Sports giant Decathlon is now working alongside a Rome-based research institute to convert its masks into much-needed ventilator kits.
The chain has partnered up with The Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems (Isinnova), where researchers have also used 3D printing to redesign Easybreath snorkels.
A spokesperson at Isinnova said: “The prototype as a whole has been tested on one of our colleagues directly inside the Chiari Hospital, connected to the ventilator body, and has proven to be correctly working.
“The hospital itself was enthusiastic about the idea and decided to test the device on a patient in need. The testing was successful.”
The head physician of the Gardone Valtrompia hospital in Italy contacted Isinnova to ask for help in solving the shortage of ventilator masks.
The Institute then made contact with Decathlon and the sportswear giant then created blueprints of the new mask.
Health professionals can now buy the makeshift masks from Decathlon, and Isinova has released video instructions on its proper use.
In the UK it's been reported patients may have to share ventilators – as the NHS is braced for a "tsunami" of cases in London.
Doctors could be forced to hook up two people to one machine if hospitals become overwhelmed with Covid-19 patients.
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