Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 5, 1 May 2020 — Local Effort to Build Bridge Ventilators Awaits FDA Approval [ARTICLE]

Local Effort to Build Bridge Ventilators Awaits FDA Approval

A team of Hawai'i engineers and an emergency room doctor has

received funding of $250,000 from the Hawai'i Resilience Fund at the Hawai'i Community Foundation (HCF) to produce bridge ventilators Named Kahanu, whieh means "the breath," the ventilator is made of durable, sterilizable materials and ean be produced in Hawai'i for about $1,200 eaeh. Medical grade ventilators ean cost more than $25,000 eaeh. A Kahanu ventilator ean serve as a "bridge ventilator" that ean be enlisted in an emergency to save a patient's life. There are about 535 ventilators in the state. Hawai'i is preparing for the anticipated need for additional ventilators, particularly on the neighbor islands. "There is a eoneem that a breakout on any of the neighbor islands could be devastating, especially in our mral communities," said Dr. Kai Matthes of the HiCOVID community task force and a member of the Kahanu team. The project has the support of the Lt. Governor and other medical professionals. Kahanu is currently undergoing an expedited equipment review by the FDA. The funding will allow the team to manufacture at least 200 ventilators to support Hawai'i hospitals that need to expand their capacity. As an open source project, the designs and technical schematics developed for Kahanu are available for anyone else to to build their own devices, or to build upon for other projects. To date, three international teams are already preparing to use Kahanu's design. Another loeal firm, Bear Machinery from Kāne'ohe, was also recently commended in a StcirAdvertiser article for developing and producing bridge ventilators to support Hawai'i's medical needs during the pandemic.

Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Conservation Council for Hawai'i and Miehael Nakaehi, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and owner of a loeal scuba diving company. It aims to force the Nahonal Marine Fisheries Service to take long-delayed action to protect oeeanie whitetip sharks. Onee one of the most abundant species of shark, the populahon has declined significantly. Scientists estimate that in the Pacific Oeean alone, oeeanie whitetip populations have declined 80-95 percent sincethemid-1990s. Thousandsof sharks are killed eaeh year in the waters off Hawai'i and American Samoa as "bycatch" in Pacific fisheries, meaning they are accidentally caught in nets or on lines meant to catch tuna and swordfish. Overthe past decade long-liners operating in the Pacific Oeean have killed an estimated 20,000 oeeanie whitetip sharks as bycatch. Despite this, the Fisheries Service has failed to declare that Pacific oeeanie whitetip sharks are overfished. Thisdeclaration would trigger protective aehon by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. "No protections exist to prevent fisheries from capturing oeeanie whitetip sharks as bycatch," said Moana Bjur, Executive Director of the Conservation Council for Hawai'i. "That needs to change if we are to prevent this incredible apex predator from going extinct. That's why we're going to court." "It's time for the government to stop preventable shark deaths," said Miehael Nakaehi. "As a kahu manō (guardian to the shark) I feel a personal responsibility to speak up on this issue, but I believe we all share a duty to ensure the survival of this sacred animal." ■