Save The… Turtles?

by Katie Forster | Aug 14, 2020 | Newsletter | 0 comments

Welcome to another week with The Ventilator Project.

According to an NPR investigation, a majority of US states are gathering data from contact tracing efforts, but only 13 are making the information publicly available.

“The data states are gathering includes how many contacts are reached and how quickly and where people were exposed — whether it was out in public or at home. The few states analyzing and sharing this data represent ‘a good start,’ says Crystal Watson, senior scholar at the Center for Health Security who collaborated with NPR on the survey. ‘It’s a little bit scattershot right now.’ What’s needed, she says, is for states to share contact tracing data ‘more, more widely and more consistently.’”

‘Health departments are really stretched to the limit right now, and it’s not a trivial thing to put together the data infrastructure to report [this data] publicly,’ Watson says. Some federal guidance on ‘what states should be aiming to report publicly’ could be really helpful, she says.”

We earnestly hope that with data collected from contact tracing – as well as the ongoing efforts of social distancing, mask-wearing, and increased testing – the COVID-19 situation will improve in the coming months. Still, we’re living in unpredictable circumstances, and we have no way of being sure how much or little things will change. We can only do the best with what we have. That’s our philosophy at TVP: if there’s anything you can do to make a difference, no matter what it looks like, it becomes your moral responsibility to help.

PRODUCT UPDATES

With our EUA submission in, our Quality & Regulatory Affairs team is taking a closer look at what’s required for a 510k submission (the difference is explained in one of our blog posts). They’re also collaborating with engineering to see what other features can be incorporated into our AIRA ventilator without having to submit a new proposal to the FDA.

We’ve onboarded two new UX researchers! This is a very exciting step as we wrap up our user research for the first version of AIRA and start looking into what features need to be incorporated into a market-ready product. We’ve also gotten in touch with some new contacts who will be helping us with our medical device UX— they have experience with vigorous UX testing tools, and there are all sorts of things they can help us with!

This is an artist rendering and therefore subject to change

Company Updates!

Big news this week: the Smithsonian reached out to us this week to request a timeline of our prototypes! They’re putting together an exhibit about design during the pandemic, and we’re really looking forward to being involved.

TVP’s Summer Ambassadors Program has just wrapped up. All together, our ambassadors raised over $5000! Some of the people who participated in the program may stay on as leaders, bringing in their own fundraising programs. Thank you for your hard work, ambassadors, we appreciate you immensely! Donations are what drive us forward!

Our latest blog post focuses on the UX team at TVP! Click below to learn why this department is the reason our ventilators will be ending up in hospitals rather than the Boston aquarium.

we’ve seen a bunch of wins recently

We’re expecting to hear back from the FDA soon concerning our EUA status, and we’re looking forward to it.

The Smithsonian reaching out is a big deal!

We want to tell them our story in the most compelling way to accurately depict who we are and what we’ve been doing, here. We are contributing to something that’s making an impact on the world, and the more backing and recognition we receive, the more we are reminded of that. Thank you to all our donors and volunteers for getting us here.

We wish you a stimulating weekend of continual advancement. Or a restful time and a backyard margarita. Or whatever makes you happy.

All The Best,

The Ventilator Project Team

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