Erebus launch life-saving medical supplies

Erebus Motorsport has joined the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic by beginning production of potentially life-saving medical supplies.

Using the resources of its Supercars workshop in Melbourne, several team members have worked tirelessly in recent days alongside Supercars Medical Delegate Dr Carl Le to develop devices to protect health care workers on the front line.

Full-face masks and a protective perspex box designed to shield health care workers from infected patients, have been manufactured in the Dandenong workshop.

The team is now prepared to distribute the equipment as quickly as possible.

“It’s a challenging time and all Australians need to do all they can to help,” Erebus Motorsport CEO Barry Ryan said.

“We are in a fortunate position where we have the ability to make this shift in our operations and help our health care workers and patients.”

Anton De Pasquale’s race engineer Mirko De Rosa has been a key figure in the process.

“One of our engineers has family isolated in Italy, so the effects of this virus have hit close to home for us,” Ryan said.

“Mirko approached Betty and I Wednesday with the idea of making ventilation masks and in collaboration with Dr Carl Le, we have used our 3D printer to design and further develop ventilation masks for health care workers that are based on underwater snorkelling masks.

“Rather than developing something complicated, these cost-effective masks with a 3D printed adaptor and easily replaceable P2/N95 filtration, can be mass produced and go straight away to health care workers on the front line – who are at high risk.”

Decathlon, the sports goods supplier, are fully behind the team’s initiative and the ‘e-mask’ is in its final stages with 300 units near completion.

CAD drawings for a CPAP adaptor have also been designed with a prototype currently underway.

A second device, initially created by a Taiwanese doctor, could prove ground-breaking for the safety of health care workers worldwide.

The aerosol box, a transparent plastic box with an opening on one side, can fit over the patient’s chest and neck, while the opposite side has two holes through which doctors can insert their hands, plus an additional smaller hole for connecting suction to the box.

“One of the riskiest times for a health care worker is when a patient is particularly unwell and needs to be intubated,” Dr Carl said.

“Because these workers must be in very close proximity to the patient, this box can provide an additional physical barrier.

‘’Every emergency department or ICU has wall suction, so we modified the box, which can vacuum potential droplets away from the area.’’  

The ‘e-Aerosol Box’ is already being trialled at two Melbourne hospitals with cost-efficiency and design allowing for 20 units to be produced per day. Further options for production nationally are being explored.

Dr Carl and Erebus Motorsport are also now looking for a solution for two-way communications in and out of isolation rooms.