You may have heard that the British Government has given Dyson an order for 10,000 ventilators but whilst it is waiting for these to arrive, there is another way to deal with the current shortage.

There are lots of 3D printers sitting in dental and medical laboratories that can be used for such work. There is a national network sharing the details of the designs required and to collect and distribute the finished parts to the hospitals where they are needed.

figure 1

©Westend61/Getty Images Plus

Professor Adam Nulty, Dr Dan Shaffer and many other dentists, technicians, companies, 3D printers and designers have teamed up to provide this valuable and timely initiative.

If you would like to join in, your help will be directly saving lives and protecting front line healthcare workers from infection. It is perfectly safe: you will be working in your own premises and be able to maintain your chosen level of production and isolation. Printable resin is supplied by Dental Directory and shipping costs are covered by the initiative's organisers. Any profits generated will go towards manufacturers of equipment in the initiative to cover costs of production and postage. All expenditure will be transparent.

Any remaining profit once the COVID-19 crisis is over will go to LovingByGiving and Bridge2aid.

Visit https://www.3dprintcovid19.com/ to register your interest in assisting the initiative.

You can also contact Celeste Barker at info@idda.org for further information.