Mr Jones and his UK-based sister Susan, also an engineer, hope the idea catches on in countries that may have small health systems but access to oxygen in the form of welding or scuba gear.

I thought if things got really bad we would run out of industrial oxygen and I got to thinking where could we find some more? Mr Jones said.

The oxy-sai part that will allow oxygen to be provided in a medical setting via a scuba tank.Credit:Ian Jones

The dive industry has all this latent capacity to use and there are other places that dont have much scuba but lots of welding kit.

Im not a medical guy but I know when we started this there might be the need for lots of portable oxygen particularly for field hospitals and particularly in the regions.

When you get down to battlefield engineering you need to think MASH, not Greys Anatomy.

The designs are still in their infancy and need more testing but the siblings are hopeful they will be useful somewhere.

Susan Jones said they were encouraging other engineers and medical professions to evolve their idea and, so far, had gained some interest.

The solutions we suggest would need review by their own doctors and scientists to ensure that it can be used safely. We wanted to share it with some aid organisations because we hope it could be useful in other parts of the World, she said.

From early review, some medics and government officials have shown interest. Fortunately, emergency planners feel at this point it is not needed in the UK, but are keeping the idea in reserve.

Before the phrase contract tracing was commonplace in the global vocabulary a small team of Perth software designers set to work on what they correctly assumed would be the perfect use of modern technology to curb the spread of the virus.

As work began slowing, staff at Neorise were prompted by calls from the World Health Organisation for countries to employ extensive contact-tracing measures.

They decided to follow Singapores lead and build a contract-tracing app called UpHealth that anonymously records movements and interactions with other app users using Bluetooth.

If a user comes into contact with someone who contracts COVID-19 they receive an alert.

Without knowing the Australian government was working on something similar with its COVIDSafe app, the team of five managed to pull a beta version together in just five weeks.

While the release of the government app did throw a spanner in the works, Neorise chief executive Patrick DCruze said once the COVIDSafe source code was released they would make UpHealth compatible with it.

Neorise CEO Patrick D'Cruze.

Neorise has also started conversations with health departments in other countries that dont have the capacity to build their own app.

Mr DCruze said everyone had to do their bit to help any way they could.

COVID doesnt respect borders, politics or religion. It is a worldwide issue and if we all sit back and wait for somebody else to fix it, it will take 10 times longer, he said.

This is one thing I knew we could have a big impact with and we couldnt just sit back and wait for Australian government to develop it.

At the end of the say if it helps get society back up and running and reduce this outbreak then it makes sense.

In just two weeks Get Scrubbed has evolved from a lightbulb moment into a genuine godsend to WAs medical sector.

Group founder and registered nurse Lisa Cooke started the movement after noticing a growing need for clothing for healthcare workers gearing up to fight COVID-19.

Volunteers sew scrubs to certain patterns which are then disinfected and sent on to healthcare workers.

Since the beginning of April, the group has grown to 3500 members and received more than 100 requests from doctors, nurses and hospital staff. It has made more than 2000 hats, 1000 laundry bags and 30 scrub tops.

Virgin Cabin Crew member Gisele Satie with Get Scrubbed administrator NicoleAbbott.

On Monday the first consignment of hats, scrubs and laundry bags arrived in Broome on a Virgin flight.

The response from Western Australians volunteering their time and sewing skills has been unbelievable, Ms Cooke said.

But whats also unbelievable is the huge number of requests were getting for more and more scrubs and caps to be made and donated.

Were definitely in need of more people with sewing skills but we also need material and elastic to be donated. If any textiles company can donate some that would be amazing. Were also looking to see if we can get a grant to buy more so it would be great to get some extra financial support from WA businesses too.

Hamish Hastie is WAtoday's business reporter.

Read more:
'Think MASH, not Greys Anatomy': West Australian ingenuity shines in COVID-19 fight - The Age