New York may need 18,000 ventilators very soon, and that’s leaving doctors increasingly anxious as other states won’t have enough of the breathing machines, too, that are key to fighting the potentially deadly novel coronavirus that has gripped the world. While other countries are frantically placing orders — such as Germany — a US company that makes ventilators says it could increase production fivefold, but the US hasn’t placed an order, according to Forbes.
The outlet reports that Donald Trump alluded to the problem in a press conference but did not offer any plans.
Ventilators pump oxygen into the lungs of a failing Covid-19 patient. U.S. hospitals have something like 62,000 up-to-date machines immediately available, plus another 99,000 obsolete units that could be pulled out of storage in an emergency, says the Society of Critical Care Medicine. If the pandemic in the U.S. veers off in the Italian direction, that entire collection may be inadequate.”
The number of ventilators falls far short of the 740,000 that it would need in a “severe” pandemic like the Spanish flu of 1918, according to a study by the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins.
“We could increase production five-fold in a 90- to 120-day period,” said Chris Kiple, chief executive of Ventec Life Systems. This Bothell, WA firm makes ventilators used in hospitals, homes, and ambulances, according to Forbes. To get that accomplished, though, he said he would have to ramp up production lines, train assemblers, and testers, as well as obtain necessary parts.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
Orders for ventilators industry are coming in from China and Italy — but not the U.S. “The time for action by the government is now,” Kiple said. “[Covid-19] is most likely to get worse next fall.”
Trump, although he’s ready to bailout the airplane industry, told governors in a phone call that states might be better off not waiting for federal help and suggested they get “them on their own.”
Orders need to be placed now, though, just as testing all Americans needs to be done as soon as possible so that the public knows the real numbers of those who have contracted COVID-19 in this country, and to try to slow it down. Trump has had months to address the outbreak thoughtfully, but time is running out.
UPDATE:
Some good news just came in. Although more ventilators are needed, the Pentagon will provide 2,000 of them and five million respirators.
What in the hell took so long? https://t.co/uC7HKQIWsb
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) March 17, 2020
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via screen capture
Like what you see here? Join the discussion on Facebook over at Americans For Sanity!
