海角大神

Christopher Sakezles didn鈥檛 expect to enter the business of making face-mask respirators in a pandemic. But here he is.听听

Last week he decided to tap his Tampa, Florida-based company鈥檚 expertise in 3D printing to make protective gear for front-line workers.听The first small shipment is now just days away.

鈥淚鈥檓 a medical device engineer by vocation. The plan was always to move back into medical device design,鈥� alongside the business of synthetic cadavers for education, Dr. Sakezles says. But not this product. Not this moment in time.

鈥淲e鈥檙e witnessing firsthand the beauty of the American system right here. We鈥檙e all members of the same family. I鈥檓 one small part of that,鈥� he says.听

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service,听all our coronavirus coverage听is free. No paywall.

In fact, the unexpected shift for SynDaver is one piece in a vast mosaic of adaptation by companies across America, and worldwide. While focused on medical and personal protective equipment, which are in desperately short supply nearly everywhere, a kind of 鈥渨artime economy鈥� is emerging in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. It鈥檚 a 鈥淢acGyver鈥� moment for everyone from shop-floor technicians to university students.听

But, as in a time of military conflict, the logistical demands are vast 鈥� raising questions about whether the federal government should be playing a stronger role guiding production and distribution of key supplies.

With desperate pleas rising from state governors, the U.S. is entering what may become a period of maximum stress on overloaded health care systems in hard-hit areas like New York, Florida, and Louisiana. Many experts say that, despite efforts by past administrations to prepare for a pandemic, President Donald Trump has failed on many of the basic tasks in an existing playbook that includes coordinating emergency supplies.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of ingenuity. 鈥� Everyone wants to help out, and also wants to keep their business going,鈥� says David Kendall, a health policy expert at the center-left think tank Third Way. But 鈥渢he federal government needs to be helping organize that supply chain and making sure that everything is getting distributed efficiently and fairly.鈥�

In New York City, 3,200 deaths have already been attributed to COVID-19. In Maryland, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is decrying a shortage of COVID-19 tests. And many governors are lamenting their need to bid against one another for supplies they have for weeks been urging the federal government to deliver to them.听

鈥淭hey call this the Airbridge鈥� to obtain vital supplies, but the Trump administration is using private companies as distributors, J.B. Pritzker, the Democratic governor of Illinois, told 鈥淧BS NewsHour鈥� Monday. 鈥淲e鈥檙e bidding, unfortunately, for all of these items of equipment against the federal government and against the other states and against other countries.鈥澨�

Some corporations such as Medtronic, a global maker of ventilators used in hospitals, have similarly said they would like federal guidance on where to send their limited supplies in the U.S.

Experts on both ends of the political spectrum argue that a pandemic is a rare and pressing national crisis that calls for a strong federal role, not just state or private marketplace response.

鈥淭he president didn鈥檛 want to own this. So he didn鈥檛 want to be in charge. His instinct at the beginning was this is a state problem,鈥� says Katrina Mulligan, managing director for national and international security at the left-leaning Center for American Progress in Washington.

Mixed signals, frayed trust

President Trump early on downplayed the likely severity of COVID-19鈥檚 threat to America. Since February he and his administration have sent mixed signals to corporations as well as the public 鈥� often blaming states for failing to have built their own stockpiles of essential items.

Tapping his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to oversee key actions has also frayed public trust in whether a national stockpile of medical equipment is being deployed based on states鈥� needs or perhaps partly based on political concerns.听

鈥淭he federal government should have initiated Defense Production Act (DPA) industrial measures when the virus first surfaced in Wuhan to hedge against the possibility of the medical emergency we now face,鈥� says Mackenzie Eaglen, a security expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, by email. Federal responsibilities include assessing supply needs, she adds, and having 鈥減urchase agreements put in place for surge production to execute when needed.鈥澨�

The DPA, dating from the Korean War in the 1950s, allows the federal government to steer American industry for reasons of national security, such as by requiring companies to prioritize government contracts over those with other customers.听

Mr. Trump has used the act before, including for disaster relief as well as materials for Pentagon weaponry.听But in response to the coronavirus, whether because of business lobbying or his own views, he was initially reluctant to deploy that tool. In recent days, he has invoked the act to demand that General Motors produce ventilators for patients in intensive care, and that manufacturer 3M make more N95 masks for hospital workers.听

Coupled with an upwelling of action by the private sector responding to the apparent needs, this means a surge in production is beginning. The 鈥渨artime鈥� analogy is being almost universally invoked, yet supplies are ramping up too late to meet some of the needs in hard-hit states, notably in the Northeast.听

Necessity is the mother of invention

Still, the response of private sector companies has been remarkable and widespread. GM was starting to make ventilators even before the DPA was invoked. Other firms are also entering that market. And a contest called the CoVent-19 Challenge, organized with support from Massachusetts General Hospital physicians, aims to stimulate invention of a rapid-fire way of making existing ventilators serve two patients rather than one.听听

Similar actions are happening in the quest for everything from hospital gowns to vaccines. And of course, for respirators or face masks and shields.

鈥淐ompanies like mine can move quickly to help. 鈥� We鈥檙e absolutely rising to meet the need,鈥� says Dr. Sakezles.

In some ways, says Chris Edwards of the libertarian Cato Institute, what鈥檚 needed from the government now is clear communication and getting out of industry鈥檚 way.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 widely agreed now that the FDA really screwed up by trying to keep a monopoly on coronavirus testing,鈥� Mr. Edwards argues. Now, with the Food and Drug Administration having relaxed its rules, there鈥檚 the promise of easing that important shortage as companies respond to the demand, he says.

Wartime pivots

In U.S. history, wartime economies have involved similar dramatic pivots by industry. Still,听manufacturers can鈥檛 turn on a dime.听

In World War II, it took Ford Motor Co. a year and a half from initial contract to actual production of B-24 bombers. But President Franklin Roosevelt, with an eye on the war in Europe and Asia, had called for a military production drive in May 1940, long before Pearl Harbor.听

鈥淓ight weeks ago, 10 weeks ago,鈥� security expert Ms. Mulligan says, a survey of states could have revealed 鈥渆xactly what our shortfalls were likely to be and where. And we could have used the Defense Production Act to place a giant government order.鈥澨�

Now, instead, the production surge is building in a less orderly fashion. But it is happening. And for many companies, it鈥檚 offering a sense of purpose and potential revenue at a time when 鈥渟tay home鈥� orders have slashed their ordinary business.听

ABC Imaging in Alexandria, Virginia, is a nationwide printing company with a new product line: face shields, alongside books and store displays.听

Public service was the inspiration. As Medi Falsafi, the company鈥檚 president tells it, his wife, Luda, suggested they make some face shields and donate them to the local hospital where their son was born 17 years ago.

The orders started rolling in. Now he has an entire COVID-19 line: banners and adhesive 鈥渟tand here鈥� decals for grocery stores, plexiglass shields for checkout lines, and temporary walls for makeshift hospitals.

The company鈥檚 survival still hangs by a thread. After having to lay off 250 employees, the remaining staff of 200 are working at reduced salaries. But 鈥渋t鈥檚 been a rewarding thing鈥� to pivot toward the national emergency, says Mr. Falsafi. 鈥淗elping people is wonderful.鈥�

Staff writer Francine Kiefer contributed to this story from Pasadena, California.