“Although Continental had ramped-down its production at the Northern-Italian site due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we produced special requested batches for the tense Italian healthcare sector. Therefore, we temporarily restarted a production line in order to meet our customer's need and supply the hoses to the medical sector. This is our critical contribution to Bergamo and the Italian society to support all the helping hands in the medical field. All of the caregivers are providing essential and vital services during these challenging times,” explained Marco Tamborini, responsible Manager for the Italy-based production of thermoplastic hoses at Continental since Merlett was acquired by Continental in 2019. The hoses are produced for the transportation of air and various medical gases required in healthcare applications. For example, the hoses are used for low pressure delivery but also for easy suction of gas into respiratory equipment such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) system to ensure that the patient's spontaneous breathing is supported.
Reliable supply of medical assemblies for the Italian healthcare sector
Continental to produce requested low-pressure hoses for the Italian healthcare sector despite the ramped-down production capacities due to Covid-19 pandemic.© Continental AGThe gas transfer solutions were manufactured for the company's Bergamo-located customer Flow-meter, a specialist for devices for measurement, control and supply of fluids. The province of Bergamo in the region of Lombardy is particularly hard hit by the novel viral disease. “In the last few days we have received many expressions of gratitude from the hospitals that we are serving. That would be impossible without reliable partners on our side – especially during these times. The local health facilities rely on a continuous supply of medical applications due to the ongoing stressful situation,” said Roberto Paratico, CEO of Flow-meter.
Hose solution for anesthetic and respiratory equipment
Continental's medical gas supply hose is a PVC hose with a polyester yarn reinforced thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) conductive underlayer and a polyurethane (PU) intermediate adhesive layer. It is suitable for the transport of air, oxygen, nitrous oxide, helium and carbon dioxide. “Going forward, we will have a strong focus on manufacturing medical hoses for the European healthcare sector – especially during these days, when the medical and social need for medical equipment used in respiratory diseases is so extremely high”, said Tamborini.
