The ‘Arsenal of Health’ as ally of the public health response to COVID-19

By Dennis Archambault

Earlier this week we found an old campaign poster from the John Kerry 2004 run for the presidency. It proclaimed, “Help is on the way.” We thought the message went along with our holiday-turned-hope lights. As we come to terms with the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, we are all looking for help in the form of personal protective equipment, tests that help public health epidemiologists construct effective models for analyzing the contagion, increased capacity at temporary hospital sites like the TCF center, breakthroughs in treatment, and ultimately a vaccine.

Two weeks ago, General Motors, Ford, FCA and auto suppliers announced plans to retool some of their excess capacity to build ventilators. General Motors teamed up with Ventec, a ventilator manufacturer and Ford aligned with GE Health. In subsequent days, several Michigan companies announced their initiatives, from clothiers in the Upper Peninsula to small industries in Southeast Michigan, manufacturing items desperately needed to support those who are ill and caregivers who need protection to stay healthy.

Earlier this week, Ford announced it produced its first million face shields for health care workers, designed on 3D printers at the Advanced Manufacturing Center in Redford. This and many other manufacturing projects have been done with the cooperation of union workers and done with the spirit of the non-profit sector. As Shilpan Amin, GM’s vice president of global purchasing and supply chain said, “Every day we slow down is a day someone’s life is at risk. We didn’t have any experience doing this. In our minds, we didn’t know it couldn’t be done, so we made it happen.”

A Ford executive noted that the company’s negotiation with Ventec to produce ventilators over a week and a half likely would have taken a year or longer. But this is the moral equivalent of war, and everyone knows it. A Ford supplier building face shields in Plymouth said, “We ran like 1,000 units and then ramped up to 4,000, and then by (last) Thursday, we ran 25,000.”

A public health response to a pandemic requires the consciousness of war – and that is “all hands on deck.” The progression of the disease needs to be stopped and people need to be healed – that requires the total commitment of the country, from elected officials and wealthy philanthropists to neighborhood folks who are helping get groceries for elder neighbors or sewing face masks.

The industrial effort has been dubbed, “Arsenal of Health,” after the role Detroit played in industrial production as the “Arsenal of Democracy” in World War II. At the time, Detroit was manufacturing a warplane every hour.  If the manufacturers produce at the rate they are, with the innovation they say, it is a deserving reference. So far, so good.

Dennis Archambault is vice president of Public Affairs for Authority Health.