Building Ventilators Against The Clock | Full Documentary

If you like tinkering and making things then this is for you. We were given the challenge of a lifetime, completely out of the blue. Can you design and build a ventilator in 10 days? Entirely from local parts?
At the start of COVID-19, we were asked to do exactly that by our local government here in South Wales, UK.

Meanwhile, in March 2020, the United Kingdom as a whole was thought to need 30,000 machines within 8 weeks. Most ICU ventilators are made in other countries. Nearly all internal components are made in China. All these supply chains had failed. This film shows our struggles with footage taken at the time and then later, in 2024, I travelled the UK to interview others who had been working on similar projects.

In the end, these machines were not needed as alternative treatments developed, but take your mind back to March 2020. COVID was heading our way, it had already overwhelmed Italy, there were no effective vaccines and nobody knew if things would become apocalyptic or not.

We worked on the basis that they would.

Many groups globally worked on similar projects. This is just a tiny snapshot of that time.

Website:
www.xenonfilms.com
Contact:
[email protected]
Trailer:
https://dai.ly/k1h0mSpVIzK01LD1WQy

I know for certain there were many other groups working on similar projects globally. Do contact me if you wish.

TITLE SEQUENCE MUSIC
Pond5. 119216799-reverse-dance. Andrey Vinogradov. Hurdy Gurdy.
END CREDITS MUSIC
With thanks to the band, Gypsy Jacques, playing "Joseph Joseph" and "Dark Eyes", both copyright-free, during the film and end credits.

STOCK MUSIC
Motion Elements
Full listing in video end credits.

STOCK VIDEO AND IMAGES
Motion Elements
Pond5
Shutterstock.
Alamy Photo
Full listing in video end credits.

STOCK SOUNDS
Freesound. www.freesound.org Full listing in video end credits.

Wellcome Collection

OTHER
Wikimedia.
Blegdam hospital interior image used with permission from Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen.
Smoke resuscitation kit image used with permission from Wood Museum of Anesthesiology. USA.
Cartoon on tobacco resuscitation used with permission from Marzena Żyła ( Veinity Fair ).
https://veinityfair.com/2021/02/24/tobacco-enema-rescue-kit/

Suno:
You can't always have what you want.
Takin' a trip to death-ray mountain.
Money talks.