Protecting the health of its employees whilst ensuring an interrupted supply of medical oxygen to hospitals have been two key priorities for Messer during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In January, the world’s largest family-run industrial gases specialist initiated early measures to safeguard the supply of existing hospitals.
Messer immediately increased the production of medical oxygen and has since been successively expanding medical gas supply systems in hospitals all over the world and converting supplies to liquefied form as needed.
This enabled the the company to provide larger quantities of oxygen with each delivery.
Moreover, Messer provided additional transportation resources and now delivers to hospitals around the clock.
For field hospitals in many countries, the company installed additional gas supply systems and erected new storage tanks.
New application of nitrogen monoxide
During the pandemic, nitrogen monoxide was used for the first time to ventilate Covid-19 patients.
Chemically, nitrogen monoxide belongs to the group of nitrogen oxides, but it also forms in the human body, where it performs vital tasks
Those tasks include, among other things, the regulation of blood pressure and immune response.
Inhaled nitrogen monoxide acts on the equilibrium of the pulmonary circulation by expanding the blood vessels. This increases local blood flow and improves the supply of oxygen to the arteries.
Studies provide initial evidence that nitrogen monoxide has a beneficial effect on coronavirus-induced acute respiratory failure by impeding reproduction of the virus in the lungs.
Messer said additional clinical studies on the treatment of Covid-19 with nitrogen monoxide are currently underway in the US and China.
Shift operation ensures supply
In order to protect its own employees from the virus, Messer said it is increasingly relying on telework from home.
In production, Messer introduced multi-shift operation where shift crews do not overlap. In addition, hygiene measures at all sites have been reinforced.
“As a company with worldwide operations, it is more important than ever that we remain flexible so we can respond to relevant decisions and local regulations and orders in the best possible way,” said Stefan Messer, owner and CEO of the Messer Group.
In a statement, Messer said for a workforce totalling more than 11,000 people worldwide, a rate of infection in the low two-digit range during 2020 speaks for a functioning emergency and crisis management.
