Coronavirus | Father and son make valves for respirators and masks to donate to hospitals

The arrival of coronavirus Argentina has shown two opposite social scenarios: while some citizens do not comply with the mandatory quarantine and are aggressive towards people who try to make them see reason, many others make themselves available to their neighbors and the country with solidarity initiatives.

This is the case of Guillermo and Gerónimo Cabrera, father and son, who live in Banfield and three years ago they decided to start a startup called I give you a hand, through which they began to print 3D prosthesis to donate to hospitals; a year later they did “IV pole with super powers” for pediatric inpatient wards; and, now, facing the health emergency, decided to make valves for respirators and face masks for medical personnel.

“It is that seeing portals from other countries in Europe, specifically from Italy, we saw that there are people who are starting to make valves called Venturi valves and we said ‘we we have 3D printers, we can do them here in Argentina‘. So, to avoid so many deaths In our great country, which my old man and I love very much, we decided to make those valves that fit for respirators and we are going to deliver them free of charge in all the institutions that the Government has for the treatment of Covid-19, “announced the young business administration student on his social networks.

In dialogue with TN.com.arGeronimo said that already manufactured 60 valves, what “they are disposable because they are easy to manufacture and low cost. “

“Yesterday we did the first batch of valves, we went to the Lavallol hospital and the respirators didn’t use those valves, they did not work because they use a similar type of valve that is sterilized and are reused, “said the founder of Te a le mano. But this situation pushed him to find another need and get to work to solve it.

“We spoke with the director of the hospital and asked him what he might need. He replied that what needs to be done is to take care of the doctors that they will be in contact with infected people. We were seeing that in Europe they print masks that cover the entire face. I came to my house and I started to design my own mask model“revealed Gerónimo, who together with Guillermo are already working on the manufacture of these protective supplies for doctors.

For these entrepreneurs, it is vital “help heroes not lack tools” to be able to do its job. “We all have to contribute our grain of sand, we have to win this virus among all”, encourages the young man who in September 2018 was received by Pope Francis for their solidarity work.

Currently, thanks to the four 3D printers they have, they can produce 44 Venturi valves for respirator in 10 hours. Now his intention is to be able to communicate with the Ministry of Health of the Nation so that they help them in the diffusion and in the logistics to be able to reach all the points of the country where they need them.

“If the government makes a massive order, we are going to need materials,” admitted Gerónimo, who made the two proposals available to the health authorities: Venturi valves and protective masks.

Gerónimo speaks with great humility and assures that from his place he tries to spread the message that “we can all do something from where we are “. “There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube to make masks with everyday materials like x-rays,” he admits.

Despite of social, preventive and compulsory isolation that the Government decreed since last Friday, Gerónimo and his father are empowered by the Municipality of Lomas de Zamora to move to hospitals zonal to consult your needs. However, as long as they are not contacted by the national authorities, they will not be able to get their products to other districts.

Hospitals wishing to request the material can contact Gerónimo and Guillermo by sending an email to tedoyunamano11@gmail.com or through a private instagram message on the @elchicodelasmanos account.

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