Moroccan engineers to transform Decathlon snorkeling masks as respirators

Moroccan engineers said they will convert Decathlon snorkel masks to be used as respirators for coronavirus patients as the total number of cases in the country hit 638 with 37 deaths.

The initiative was announced by a group of engineers on their facebook page known as Ingénierie VS Covid 19.

Morocco ordered 550 ventilators to be distributed on Moroccan hospitals as part of a package of 200 million dollars to acquire other equipment and medicine to treat coronavirus patients.

The engineers said on their facebook page that Decathlon backs the idea and has kept its stockpile of such masks and plans to donate them to authorities in case they endorse the plan.

In Italy, as hospitals were overwhelmed with an overload of COVID-19 patients struggling to breathe, innovative medical staff have used 3D printed valves to adapt ordinary full face snorkelling masks into life saving equipment.

The idea has now been adopted by other nations who are adding their own specific medical parts to provide critical air flow to stop patient’s lungs collapsing.

Doctors said such masks can be used for patients with severe respiratory problems to avoid having to intubate the trachea of the patient and put them on a respirator.