Dayco component helping to save lives

6 April 2020  

Dayco is helping in the fight against Covid-19 by producing a vital component that helps convert a readily available snorkelling mask into a life-saving ventilator.

The adaption of the mask, normally supplied via sports outlet Decathlon, transforms it into a vital resource that is already being used in hospitals in northern Italy and by the Italian Red Cross.

Dayco’s contribution involves the production of the Charlotte Valve. This allows the conversion to a medical respiratory device, and Dayco is producing it on 3-D printers at its San Bernardo d’Ivrea facility in northern Italy.

President of Dayco Global Powertrain Operations, Michael Weiss, commented: “To be able to contribute in the fight against this terrible virus was an easy decision to make as we have both the facilities and machinery required to make the Charlotte Valve in the required numbers, as well as a duty to respond to the national and international emergency.

He added: “We are now in contact with the Ivrea and San Giovanni Bosco hospitals along with the Red Cross, to help distribute the item, which can be installed quickly and easily, and in conjunction with the reversal of the three existing valves in the face of the mask, convert it into the life-saving device.”