Spain | Fast help with more ventilators
Samir Azdoudi | 33
Pharmaceutical project engineer, Rubí / Barcelona
Samir Azdoudi was constantly hearing in the news that hospitals in Spain urgently needed more ventilators in April 2020. When he found out that the Leitat Technological Center and the CARES Foundation in Barcelona were looking for volunteers to help manufacture ventilators, he signed up on the spot. Starting in April, together with his colleagues Cristian Torres and Alejandro Jose Molina, he spent the next month and a half working on ventilators in Barcelona.
Mr. Azdoudi, how did you help manufacture the ventilators?
I was responsible for the electronic parts, like the controls; Alejandro Jose and Cristian were in charge of calibrating and testing the devices. Together, we completed a total of 400 ventilators. In our last week, we taught the employees there how to perform our technical work so they could continue working without us. The ventilators are now in mass production and are already being used in several ICUs.
Why did you and your team decide to take on this responsibility?
When my know-how and my skills can help build a machine that helps other people, it’s a gift for me. B. Braun made it possible for my two colleagues and I to volunteer to work on the ventilators.
How did you manage to get through that difficult time?
We knew exactly why we were doing this work. Every evening, a van came and took all the ventilators that we had just assembled straight to the hospitals. That was very motivating, since the more we made, the more would soon be in the ICUs. We noticed the impact our assistance made, right away.
What gives you hope?
April 2020 was a difficult time for Spain: We were in lockdown and working from home; the streets were empty. When I would get to the Technology Center, suddenly every day I saw people helping each other, they were committed to fighting this pandemic. That gave me hope.
