In the early months of 2020, New Zealand watched with great concern
at the arise and spread of the Covid-19 disease (SARS-CoV-2 virus)
overseas. With a very mobile population it was
only time before the impact of the disease was felt in New Zealand.
As New Zealand’s medical community urgently prepared, Dunedin
Hospital’s Clinical Director, ICU Dr Craig Carr sought to introduce the
respiratory hoods he had clinical experience with in London. These
hoods had already proved their worth in those countries first hit with
Covid-19 but were not yet commonly used in New Zealand. With such
high demand in those countries however, getting these hoods into
New Zealand proved impossible. Instead, with support from Minister
David Parker, he reached out to the New Zealand engineering
community to explore the possibility of making the hoods here in New
Zealand. An enthusiastic group of skilled individuals
answered the call and began development.
The group formed SouthMED Ltd, a company that brought together
their unique blend of skills from commercial and engineering design, to
product design and medical practice. The remarkable journey that
followed saw a hood designed and ready for mass production in a
matter of weeks. Furthermore, with Dr Carr and ENT specialist Dr
Leaper acting as advisers, the design team was able to produce a
hood capable of containing the viral outflow for each patient, and
design a second unique hood for larger physiologies.
SouthMED’s patent-pending hood can provide advanced breathing
support for people with Covid-19 and other Acute Respiratory Distress
Syndrome (ARDS) conditions.
© 2020, SouthMED Limited, New Zealand, All rights reserved.
