Prince George's County man building low-cost breathing machines
Guru Ramu's Laurel-based company is sending affordable breathing machines to India.
LAUREL, Md. - More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, so many parts of the world continue to be crushed by a new surge of infections. Among those hardest hit, is India, a country that is shattering global records.
"Many third world countries are missing simple technologies that they should have access to, that can save lives whether they are on their way to the hospital or just in the triage room waiting for treatment," said Guru Ramu, president and CEO of MACH 33 Engineering based in Laurel, Md.
Ramu said that he and his team of nine other engineers have been on a mission to construct Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Devices (CPAP) and give back to the community.
The device is something the engineer said will help COVID-19 patients breath easily and potentially save countless lives.
"Part of the issue with COVID is that it prevents normal breathing, and this device will measure the amount that you can breathe in, and judge whether you need more air or not," Ramu said.
Ramu said the machine that is meant to measure how a patient is breathing is a very scarce and costly resource in developing nations.
"So the next step became, well a new strain has arrived in India so what do we do? How do we get the technology out there faster?" he asked.
That’s why Ramu through GoFundMe is raising money to buy components for the CPAP devices so he can ship them to India or any developing country, at no cost to the patient, any hospital or medical provider.
"We have people on the ground there we have connected with, so if we can get units like these into their hands we expect them to hand it off," Ramu said.
"The best thing I can do with my life is be a humanitarian so this to me is the first step in a way for us to give back."
A link to the GoFundMe page can be found here.