On April 16th the first Ventec Ventilators were shipped out of GM’s plant in Kokomo, Indiana and the workers that built them wrote notes and signed the boxes with messages of hope and support for frontline hospital workers and people suffering from COVID-19.

GM began working with Ventec, a small Seattle-based producer of the ventilators, in early March and mobilized more than 1,000 employees and nearly 100 auto suppliers to start making the critical machines in the fight against COVID-19. The goal is to eventually make 10,000 ventilators per month, according to GM and Ventec, but the companies didn’t specify how long it would take to reach that output. GM also plans to produce masks.

With 960,000 US COVID-19 patients potentially needing ventilators, President Trump ordered General Motors on March 27th through a 1950’s wartime act⁠ to make ventilators for U.S. hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. GM said it began work on the life-saving machines on March 16th.