Aston Martin turns to PPE production

Aston Martin is providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to frontline NHS workers during the coronavirus crisis.

It is working on a new respiratory protection device, protective visors and gowns.

Working with its project partner, Multimatic, Aston Martin is helping to refine and produce a new respiratory protection device. This intubation shield is in simple terms a Perspex box that goes over a patient’s upper body during procedures, protecting the medical staff but also allowing them the access they need to the patient.

This brand new design has been turned around in a matter of days and is now being trialled at the Royal London Hospital.

Aston Martin Lagonda president and group chief executive, Andy Palmer, said: “The frontline NHS workers are protecting us from Covid-19 so we want to do what we can and try to protect them by supplying visors and gowns. Times of crisis are also times of great innovation and we are delighted to be working with Multimatic and the MTC to produce the intubation shield for the intensive care staff. Everyone we approached stepped up without hesitation and they should all be proud.”

Additionally, Aston Martin will soon be producing 150 protective visors each week. The first batch will hopefully go into production this week and will be assembled in the Aston Martin Design Studio at Gaydon by volunteer staff.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin is hoping to produce up to 750 gowns a week after receiving a direct request for protective gowns from the procurement departments of hospitals local to its headquarters in Warwickshire. After sourcing suitable materials, the company has submitted a sample gown to the NHS with a view to starting production this week.