OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 1:25 PM PT — Thursday, April 2, 2020
Ford has designed a respirator that could help protect first
responders and health care workers as they treat coronavirus patients.
The auto manufacturer teamed up with 3M to produce the device, which is
made with a fan used in Ford’s F-150 trucks and 3M air filters.The device will be made at Ford’s Flat Rock assembly plant in Michigan. Production is expected to start next week.
According to the auto manufacturer’s executive chairman, Ford has also been working with other companies to produce multiple devices, in an effort to help out with the shortage of medical supplies.
“We’re working with GE on ventilators to dramatically increase the capability they have to deliver these in numbers,” stated Bill Ford. “We’re also working with 3M for air purifying respirators, we’re going to help them dramatically increase the production of those.”
They are currently hiring for all shifts at the Michigan plant and are hoping to produce about 1,000 respirators per month.
