In planning for the future maybe more ventilators and backup training is more important than testing

[LAS14]

So it sounds like a long term strategy for dealing with respiratory pandemics... is to beef up our emergency supply of ventilators and train thousands of other kinds of physicians to be backup respiratory therapists and then skip "social distancing" so we could have a very high peak of cases and get the whole thing over with more quickly and thus reduce the economic hardship of closed businesses. Sort of like when some of us were kids and were sent to friends houses to catch the measles and get it over with.

We're engaging in social distancing mostly to "flatten the curve." But a flattened curve means an extended period for the pandemic.

I'm not saying we shouldn't do what we're doing now, but is anyone talking about creating a big enough backup system so we wouldn't have to flatten the curve next time around?

tia
las

[Girard442]

1. I was a caregiver for many years for someone who was ventilator dependendent.

Maybe they'll need me.

[tinrobot]

2. Testing is truly the answer.

Singapore got it right.

Basically, test aggressively to identify the cases early, then isolate and treat the patients.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/12/814522489/singapore-wins-praise-for-its-covid-19-strategy-the-u-s-does-not

Yes, we could use more respiratory therapists, but if we don't know who is sick, they'll be underutilized.

[LAS14]

3. You don't need a corona virus test to know that someone is sick enough to need a ventilator. nt

[tinrobot]

5. True, but at that point it is way too late to stop the spread.

With this virus, people are infectious for days without knowing it. They unwittingly infect others, who then repeat the pattern. That's how you get levels of exponential growth that overwhelms current healthcare systems.

If you test aggressively and get people into treatment earlier, you stop it before it spreads widely.

[Pobeka]

4. If you have a test fast, early on, containment can be much more successful.

Ask anyone over 70 right now if they'd prefer to be sick and have a ventilator available, or not be sick because infected individuals were detected an isolated quickly.

Seems the answer is obvious.

Also, flattening the curve does also mean somewhat less of the total population will be infected by the time the disease has run its course. And flattening the curve gives some time to find the best possible treatments for symptoms