Community and Health - INTENSIVE CARE SPECIALIST
What
to expect in Intensive Care
Middle
Secondary
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Literacy
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Personal and social capability
Cooperative
Learning Activity
1. In groups of 3 - 4
students, your are to read "What to expect in intensive care" by
Health Direct....
2. List any questions you might have regarding ICU.
3. Discuss with your group and see if they have the answers.
4. Keep a list of the questions you still require answering.
As a class, group the questions together that are similar
Regional
Ingenuity - the Creation of a ventilator for the Pandemic - Your
School's Response?
Middle
Secondary
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Critical and creative thinking
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Literacy
Australian
Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability
Priority
Cooperative
Learning Activity
1.
In groups of 3 - 4 students, read and look at the following articles and
video.
In April 2020,
The Conversation published the following article.
In May 2020, ABC reported on a small regional company used to making mining equipment turns its hand to developing life-saving ventilators during Covid-19.
Here is the ABC News Story
Regional Ingenuity: A regional company makes life-saving
ventilators
2.
Report in News in Austrade - Success Story
When Ballarat-based Gekko Systems heard the local
medical community was worried about access to ventilators needed to
respond to the COVID-19 crisis, the company sprang into action. Through
a combination of business agility, vast community support and
state government funding, the METS company is now weeks away from
manufacturing up to 1,000 ventilators for distribution across Victoria,
Australia and beyond. A successful inventor, Clunies Ross Science award
winner, International Mining Hall of Fame inductee and Gekko’s Technical
Director, Sandy Gray is highly recognised for his creative and technical
skills. What he lacked was an understanding of how ventilators worked in
a clinical setting.
Co-founded in 1996 by Sandy Gray and Elizabeth Lewis-Gray, Gekko Systems
is a mining equipment, technology and services company (METS)
specialising in mineral processing equipment. The Ballarat-based
business offers testing and mineral analysis services, conducts
engineering studies, and designs, constructs, commissions and supports
mineral processing equipment and modular plants.
‘We are very much an agile innovator – we do a lot of design
development work for our local and international clients to customise
their processing plants for the minerals they process,’ says
Lewis-Gray, Gekko’s Managing Director. ‘This requires us to think
outside the box and innovate quickly.’
Gekko’s innovation capability was why Michael Poulton, the CEO of the
Committee of Ballarat, turned to the company for an unusual – and urgent
– request. The Committee is responsible for guiding and progressing
projects and programs that benefit the city and region. Poulton had
heard local hospitals were worried that as a regional city, Ballarat
might miss out on the opportunity to procure ventilators, and that even
if they managed to buy some units, it might not be enough for their
needs. ‘When Mike asked if we could manufacture ventilators,
Sandy said “yes, I reckon we can”,’ says Lewis-Gray. ‘One
of the unique things about Gekko is that we have design, prototyping and
manufacturing under the one roof. ‘Our areas of specialty
include hydraulics, pneumatics and control systems – the core
technologies in a ventilator.’
A true community effort
Poulton introduced Gray to two intensive care anaesthetists from the
Anaesthetic Group Ballarat, Doug Paxton and Michael Whitehead. The two
men helped Gray understand how the ventilator would need to connect to
the patient and provided input into the ventilator’s design. Based on
their advice and using manufacturing guidelines from the UK Government
as a starting point, Gray designed a working prototype in five days.
The Gekko ventilator – called the GeVentor – was designed using parts
that would not tap into the supply chains of companies building more
traditional units.
‘Sandy was adamant about not interrupting existing supply chains so
we spent a lot of time researching and looking for alternative
components for our ventilator,’ says Lewis-Gray.
Once again, the Ballarat community stepped up. Ian Firns, the founder of
a tech company called Eurekative that works with local accelerator
Runway, offered to make 3D printed components for Gray’s prototype
following an introduction from Poulton.
‘Suppliers in Ballarat, Victoria and across Australia have also been
absolutely incredible in offering us support and helping us resolve some
of the supply issues,’ says Lewis-Gray.
The generosity from the Ballarat region continued to flow, with local
businesses and community providing critical funds towards the project.
Lewis-Gray says without this support, Gekko would not have been able to
attract $200,000 in co-funding from the Victorian Government.
‘The funding was a great boost because it meant we could throw
resources into the project and get ourselves ready for manufacturing,’
she says.
The Committee for Ballarat also put Gekko in touch with a local research
group called the Ballarat Innovation Research Collaboration for Health
(BIRCH), who are assisting with the research and clinical evaluation
required for approval from the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA).
Getting ready for production
At the time of writing [April 2020], Gekko is
sourcing components for 10 prototypes that will be used for testing. The
company is working with the TGA to make sure the process it’s following
fulfils regulatory standards. Testing will take approximately three
weeks. If the TGA approves Gekko’s prototype, Lewis-Gray says Gekko will
start manufacturing straight away.
‘Our agreement with the Victorian Government is that we will be
ready to manufacture by the end of May but our intention is to do it
faster if we can,’ says Lewis-Gray. ‘We’re aiming to
manufacture around 1,000 ventilators in the first run and to scale up in
the future.
Gekko is still completing business-as-usual work albeit at a reduced
volume and will set up a separate production line for the ventilators.
‘We’ve got a terrific team of cross-functional engineers and
outstanding capabilities in lean manufacturing so I don’t think we will
have any issues. It’s more about the workflow – how we package the
componentry and put it together.’ Lewis-Gray says Gekko’s staff are
thrilled to be working on the ventilator project.
‘Australia’s METS industry is among the top two or three in the
world,’ she says. ‘If you’re looking for Australian capability
and innovation, it’s likely to come out of this sector – and we are
proud to take on the challenge and show what we’re capable of. ‘Like
other companies, the COVID-19 crisis has impacted us and there are parts
of the business that are underutilised. The ventilator project means we
can keep our people and systems working. ‘The opportunity to work for
the good of the country and its people, and to be part of something
that’s bigger than us is motivating and inspiring.’
Potential for export
Gekko’s work has already attracted enquiries from
the international business and medical communities. ‘Obviously our
priority is to supply Australian hospitals and medical facilities first,
but export is an option in the event that Australia’s ventilator needs
are fulfilled. We would love to help countries that don’t have the
technology,’ says Lewis-Gray.
‘It has been challenging but I am very excited about the project,’
she says. ‘It’s so good to see people across the country come together
and to experience it within our own supply chain and our community.
There’s a greater sense of connection and goodness and that’s very
inspirational.’
3. Australia's neighbours have been very badly hit by COVID-19 or another pandemic that requires ventilators and could use your help! You are to create
-
a School Campaign to let the students know about this situation and how they can help by donating one or more Gekko ventilators.
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a YouTube video using the information in the articles and video above.
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an Infographic to post around the school about the campaign.
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a way to colllect the monies that come in from your campaign
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a letter to the Grays asking for the price of a ventilator and how to send it to a hospital in PNG or Indonesia or Bali. Ask if they have contacts for particular hospitals.
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a Media Release for your local newspaper telling them of your campaign and its results
