To build an artificial respirator in 10 days: that’s the challenge set by the Santé Libre collective, a group of some thirty experts – doctors, designers, engineers – from Quebec and elsewhere. URelles met Jacqueline Ung, who is contributing to the project as a designer.
At the end of March 2020, the Montreal General Hospital Foundation and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre launched a competition open to all: to design, manufacture and test a prototype respiratory ventilator that could then be redistributed to hospitals to meet demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals around the world are worried about running out of this crucial piece of equipment, as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress are often the cause of hospital admissions. Artificial respirators are essential for treating these severe cases.
In real life, Jacqueline Ung is a UX designer at Mingus Software, a startup selling hotel management software. Due to the field in which the company operates, activity has slowed down and the designer has found herself working 4 days a week. It was against this backdrop that a friend suggested she join the Santé Libre group. The collective needed to create a working prototype in a few days, and also to be able to communicate on their progress; to do this, they needed a website. In just a few hours, Jacqueline creates a visual identity, a logo and chooses the color palette, a job that can normally take from a few weeks to a few months.
The challenges
There’s no hierarchy in the group, so everyone has to take the initiative and find solutions to their own problems. And the challenges are many! First of all, there’s the human challenge: the group has never met before, and in just a few hours they have to get to know each other, trust each other and work together. There’s also a time challenge: everyone has another job alongside Santé Libre, with different rhythms and different schedules, so it’s impossible to have 100% of the team available at the same time. And the biggest challenge of all: the collective has just 10 days to create a functional artificial respirator! But there’s always plenty of fun to be had, whether it’s seeing colleagues in their pyjamas or when the kids drop in during a video conference call!
What’s next?
The collective submitted its entry to the competition on March 31. They are now awaiting the final answer, which will be given on April 15, but whatever the jury’s final choice, Santé Libre has already decided what to do next. The group is in the process of registering as an NPO, and intends to continue the adventure by taking the concept as far as possible. The creation of an artificial respirator is just the beginning. “We want to continue developing other projects in the wake of the pandemic,” explains Marie-Michèle Poulin, in charge of communications.
Participation in the competition has been a great success: 1029 teams from 94 countries! See you on April 15 for the results. The winning team will receive $200,000.
