Several of the world’s ventilator manufacturers have formed a Ventilator Training Alliance (VTA) and partnered with Allego to create a mobile app that frontline medical providers can use to access a centralized repository of ventilator training resources. Dräger, GE Healthcare, Getinge, Hamilton Medical, Medtronic, Nihon Kohden, and Philips have joined this humanitarian training coalition.

The VTA app – powered by learning and readiness platform provider Allego – connects respiratory therapists, nurses and other medical professionals with ventilator training resources from alliance member companies, including instructional how-to videos, manuals, troubleshooting guides, and other ventilator-operation expertise critical to helping responders treat patients suffering from COVID-19-related respiratory distress.

“We can help overcome this pandemic by collaborating across companies, agencies and industries to deliver smart solutions that add value and reduce stress for frontline healthcare heroes when every minute matters,” said Patrick Berges, chair of the VTA and vice president of commercial capabilities, which is part of the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group at Medtronic. “This training alliance is a great example of that collaborative spirit. Being able to share content from a variety of ventilator manufacturers all in one place ensures that hospitals can quickly access information they may need to accelerate putting life-saving ventilators to use.”

 Ventilators play a critical role in the management of patients who require respiratory assistance because they cannot breathe effectively due to a severe illness, such as COVID-19. Speed and ease of access to ventilator training could have a direct impact on patients’ health during the COVID-19 crisis.

 Content on the VTA app can be accessed on iOS and Android devices — even in environments with little to no Wi-Fi access — or from a web browser. The app provides healthcare professionals multi-language closed captioning and mobile background audio when multitasking.

 “The Allego platform was built to give professionals access to learning, content and collaboration in this time of need, and there’s never been a greater need for emergency training of medical staff than now,” said Yuchun Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of Allego. “We’re honored to partner with these ventilator manufacturers to provide this all-in-one knowledge resource to healthcare staff. Every one of the professionals working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic has become a hero in our eyes.”