Page 7 - The Wayne Dispatch

Resident steps up to help

make ventilators during crisis

By Carolyn Marnon
“I’ve been there 25 years, and I’ve
always built transmissions,” said
Wayne resident Brian Duka about
his job at Ford Motor Company’s
Livonia Transmission Plant. That all
changed when COVID-19 became a
pandemic across the nation, sending
thousands to hospitals, struggling to
breathe. Stay-at-Home orders were
executed and businesses closed
down, sending employees home for
an unknown length of time.
Personal Protective Equipment in-
ventories were low, hospitals were
understaffed with front-line health-
care workers and those who did
work, were overworked while still
trying to protect themselves from the
virus. Ventilators to help patients
with the worst cases of COVID-19
were in short supply. Ford Motor
Company saw a need and knew they Brian Duka recounts his Rosie the Riv-
could help. They would make venti- eter moment building ventilators for the
lators. war on COVID-19.
“We got laid off because of COVID,
and during the layoff, a good friend Everyone went for someone they
of mine I worked with at the plant knew.” The production line was set
died from COVID,” said Brian. When up so any employee could do any job.
Ford asked for volunteers to go off of Brian says there were short videos
unemployment to make ventilators, on a display next to each worksta-
Brian stepped up. While everyone tion that showed the employee at
else stayed home and got paid, Brian that station exactly what to do.
left the safety of his home to travel to Project Apollo, the code-name
Ford’s Rawsonville Plant in Ypsilanti given to the partnership between
where he was one of 500 paid volun- Ford, GE’s healthcare unit and 3M to
teer UAW-represented employees produce the necessary ventilators,
that staffed the round-the-clock op- was, according to Reuters.com, so
eration during one of three shifts. named for “the Apollo 13 launch in
According to Brian, Ford sent 1970 when a lunar landing was
representatives to Melbourne, aborted after an oxygen tank failed
Florida, where Airon Corporation two days into the mission, forcing
produces fully-pneumatic ventila- the astronauts to improvise a fix.”
tors. No batteries or electrical power After an April start, Ford expected to
are needed; they operate on air pres- make 50,000 ventilators in the first
sure. He says it takes two people one 100 days and then 30,000 a month,
day to make an A-E ventilator at as needed.
Airon. Ford was able to reconfigure After working six weeks in Raw-
the production process whereby the sonville where his job was to trou-
volunteers, whether hourly or salary, bleshoot any ventilators that were
“came together as one” to make 200 not working properly, Brian has re-
ventilators per day. “It was really turned to his regular job at the Livo-
neat the way they did it,” Brian nia plant. He says the majority of the
raved. people now working to build the ven-
Brian likens his role to a new ver- tilators are people that have been
sion of Rosie the Riveter. “Each gen- hired off the street so the Ford em-
eration has to do their part, and I felt ployees could get back to work.
this was my part for my generation. “It was a great collaborative effort
I felt honored to go do that. Every- by everybody,” Brian said. “It was an
body there had a different story. honor every day to be a part of that.”
The Wayne Dispatch · July 2020 · 7