In response to the COVID-19 ventilator shortage, our NYC team of clinicians, engineers, and supply chain experts from Newlab, 10xBeta, Boyce Technologies and Otherlab formed the Emergency Ventilator Response Initiative. The consortium worked closely with business partners and municipalities to form Spiro Devices LLC (Spiro), which is producing a low-cost automator for a manual resuscitator that maintains oxygenation and ventilation. It is not meant to replace conventional ventilators but expands the functionality of a manual resuscitator while freeing up human resources and increasing quality control. The device was designed to bypass some of the time, cost, and supply chain hurdles facing ventilator production efforts.