Last checked at 
* UK orders 10,000 ventilators from consortium
* Production to begin this week
* Consortium includes Airbus, BAE, Ford and F1 teams
(Adds details, Smiths CEO quote)
By Kate Holton
LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Britain has ordered more than
10,000 ventilators from a consortium of leading aerospace,
engineering and Formula One racing teams which have met an
urgent government plea for help with production due to start
this week.
The group, including Airbus, BAE Systems,
Ford and seven Formula One teams, have come together to
ramp up production of an existing ventilator made by Smiths
Group to help save the lives of those with
complications from COVID-19.
The companies, which also include Rolls-Royce and
Meggitt, said they had pulled staff off existing
projects to meet the national need.
"This consortium brings together some of the most innovative
companies in the world," Dick Elsy, the head of the consortium,
said in a statement. "I am confident this consortium has the
skills and tools to make a difference and save lives."
The United Kingdom, which initially only had 5,000
ventilators available in its National Health Service, has been
scrambling to secure additional supplies of the equipment which
can keep patients alive.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is now in isolation in
Downing Street after testing positive for coronavirus, made an
emergency appeal earlier this month for manufacturers to start
making specialist health equipment including ventilators.
The government said it needed 30,000 ventilators. Britain
currently has about 8,000 ventilators with another 8,000 on
order from international manufacturers that are due in coming
weeks.
Reuters reported last week that the consortium had joined
forces to build ventilators and was waiting for the green light
from government to start production.
Vacuum cleaner company Dyson said last week it had received
an order of a newly-made ventilator which will need to be
approved by the health regulator.
VENTILATOR SCRAMBLE
The consortium, which was asked in mid-March to come up with
a way to retool factories that produce everything from aircraft
engines to the world's fastest racing cars, did not say when the
ventilators would be ready for use in hospitals.
Smiths Group said the team would ramp up production of its
Smiths Medical paraPAC plus, a lightweight and portable
ventilator that helps take the strain from the lungs. The device
is fully certified and used by medical professionals within
Britain and overseas.
The company is also working with governments and
manufacturing teams around the world.
"It is inspiring to work with the very best UK Technology
and Engineering companies with a spirit of grit and
determination to deliver these life saving devices to our
incredible health service," Chief Executive Andrew Reynolds
Smith.
The consortium is also building another ventilator from
existing producer Penlon.
A total of 1,228 people have died in the United Kingdom from
coronavirus, as of 1700 GMT on Saturday.
Separately on Monday a group including Mercedes Formula One
said it had developed a new version of a breathing aid that can
help coronavirus patients in less a week. It is now being
trialled in hospitals.
(Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Angus MacSwan)
