Story in Forbes--"Ventilator Maker: We Can Ramp Up Production Five-Fold"

[Julian English]

Ventilator Maker: We Can Ramp Up Production Five-Fold

The U.S. could be on a crash course of increasing ICU capacity—if it had the will.

The German government just placed an order for 10,000 mechanical ventilators. What’s the U.S. government doing about a potential shortage here? Not much, it seems. President Trump alluded to the matter in a press conference but did not spell out 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.

Could manufacturers of these devices boost output? Yes, but not overnight.

“We could increase production five-fold in a 90- to 120-day period,” says Chris Kiple, chief executive of Ventec Life Systems, a Bothell, Wash. firm that makes ventilators used in hospitals, homes and ambulances. He’d have to tool up production lines, train assemblers and testers and get parts. Accelerating the parts delivery might be the toughest task, he says.

The ventilator industry is getting a burst of desperate orders from China and Italy. The U.S. hasn’t seen that yet, although manufacturers are bracing for it. “The time for action by the government is now,” says Kiple. “[Covid] is most likely to get worse next fall.”

Compare the Trump incompetence & cruely to even the lackadaisical UK response in this story from The Guardian.

UK government sends ventilator blueprints to major manufacturers

More than 60 manufacturers have been sent a blueprint for making up to 20,000 ventilators to treat coronavirus patients, “at speed”, as Boris Johnson called on British industry to help the government prepare for a surge in cases.

Officials at the Department for Health and Social Care sent a document detailing specifications for the medical devices to the companies, Downing Street confirmed on Monday evening.

Johnson gave further details of the plan during a conference call with firms including Rolls-Royce, Airbus and Jaguar Land Rover, which the government believes can help address a potential shortage of equipment.

“The prime minister made clear that responding to coronavirus and reducing the spread of the peak requires a national effort,” a spokesperson said.

“He asked manufacturers to rise to this immediate challenge by offering skills and expertise as well as manufacturing the components themselves. Businesses can get involved in any part of the process: design, procurement, assembly, testing and shipping.”

The NHS has 5,900 ventilators, according to the DHSC, but might need more than three times as many in the worst-case scenario for the spread of Covid-19.

Plans to plug the gap involve designing what the DHSC called a “basic, functional ventilator” that can be made cheaply using available components. Prior to the call, several firms had already received a two-page specification document setting out the requirements, according to industry sources.

Trump and his lackey are criminals.

[BigmanPigman]

1. The fucking moron told the state governors that THEY would have to do

this and they would get reimbursed. That is why Cuomo is so pissed off, and rightly so!

[customerserviceguy]

2. Bothell's not far from Kirkland

and the workers that need to be hired can't all telecommute. And if any of those parts come from China, I wouldn't necessarily count on them.

Sounds like someone who smells government money to me.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. During WWII the US managed to build 300,000 airplanes.

Why the hell can't we build ventilators?

[Mendocino]

9. The B-24 bomber "Liberator"

had 1555000 parts. Ford Motors produced one about every 65 minutes.

[procon]

4. It's like Trump doesn't want to pay for the equipment.

Does he think money to buy life saving ventilators will take money away from his fucking vanity wall, or is he trying to figure out some way to profit off the sick and dying?

Why the delay? He loves to have his little signing ceremonies, so why not now? Mark my words, he's hiding something.

[ooky]

10. He hasn't even thought about increasing the number of ventilators. He's incompetent.

All he knows how to do is pat himself on the back for "what a good job he is doing" and read the names of CEO's off a list, or parade CEOs across a stage. Meanwhile everything falls apart day by day.

We are all in big trouble.

[Hekate]

5. Governors need to place the orders, because Trump won't

Prognosis on Rachel was so grim. Alone among the industrial nations, the US has created a business model for hospitals that allows of no "wastage" of space and personnel. There is no reason, say the businessmen, to have a hospital wing full of expensive ICU rooms that might be desperately needed only every 10 years.

So there are no rooms. Expect your loved one to get a gurney in a hallway.

[dweller]

7. expect your loved ones to get a space in parking lot

expect your loved ones to have some dirt covering in a mass grave...

expect nothing from these inept assclowns in the white house, they could care less, and they don't even ..
😠

✌🏼

[Hoyt]

6. Most of these companies build 5k to 10k per year. With world wide demand,

it won’t help a lot. However, every one produced by ramped up output could save some lives. There are also other alternatives, like using anesthesia equipment, etc.

[C_U_L8R]

8. Trumps having lunch with big box retailers and bankers

Instead of meeting with (and funding) medical supply makers who could be delivering test kits, respirators, and more vital equipment that save lives.