US military services are using the Joint Additive Manufacturing Model Exchange (JAMMEX) tool to make Covid-19 related critical items. The tool is currently under development by the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) in partnership with the National Institute of Health and the military services. Using the additive manufacturing tool, users can download and print models for products such as face shields and surgical masks from multiple sources via a single system.

The US Navy’s Mercy-class hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) has left New York City after a one-month deployment to support the Department of Defense’s Covid-19 response efforts. It provided treatment to 182 patients and performed more than 110 surgical procedures such as appendectomies, bronchoscopies, chest tube insertions, laparoscopic procedures, and tracheotomies. It was originally intended to provide care to non-Covid patients but adapted to the changing situation and treated all patients, irrespective of their Covid status. USNS Comfort now remains ready for future Covid-19 operations.

The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has adapted a medical monitoring tool for medical facilities to help remotely check the vitals of a patient infected with Covid-19. Called the Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit (BATDOK), the medical monitoring technology was originally developed for the pararescue community. The technology will be put through three phases of testing. The first phase has already started in mid-April at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center.

The US Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division, Keyport, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) have partnered to help develop Covid-19 support equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE). The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) was reached to help the US state of Alaska be prepared in the event of a major outbreak of the viral infection. Alaska recorded 355 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as at the end of last month. It has only 200 ICU beds, with limited access to ventilators and PPE availability