Governor Lamont visited a ventilator manufacturer in Guilford on Sunday that is filling orders for places all across the globe.
Lamont's tour of Bio-Med Devices, Inc. was to speak with the company’s executives and to see the production in progress.
They’re filling orders for two versions of a ventilator that helps people who can’t breathe on their own.
They’re also building a third machine, an oxygen blender, for patients who don’t need a full ventilator and use oxygen through a tube in the nose.
Lamont said the state had an order of 1,000 to 1,500 ventilators prepared in Washington, but he found out today that those ventilators are going somewhere else where the cases are more urgent.
He said Bio-Med has stepped up and is committed to making 100 ventilators for Connecticut to add to the 950 the state already has.
The company has shipped orders to Italy, Japan and around the world. They’re working with suppliers to get parts quickly. Some parts can take months.
Since the pandemic began, they have hired more staffing to help meet the demands, Bio-Med officials added.
“We’re working overtime during the week and Saturday and Sundays at this point,” said Dean Bennett, president and CEO of Bio-Med Devices.
Bennett says they’ve had to turn down orders because demand is unprecedented. While they’re the only ones in Connecticut building ventilators, he fears there will be an industry shortage in parts at some point.
Bio-Med has been around since the early 1970’s.
