Ventilator Maker: We Can Ramp Up Production Five-Fold

[babylonsister]

Mar 14, 2020,03:06pm EDT
Ventilator Maker: We Can Ramp Up Production Five-Fold
William Baldwin
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.

more...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2020/03/14/ventilator-maker-we-can-ramp-up-production-five-fold/?fbclid=IwAR1OXlNBx3COQY766B3LUQpEH6F_yQmIUMPs-BycUP-VmC3ml4w3PLx41jw#75d85885e9a5

[TwilightZone]

1. In three to four months.

Therein lies the problem. One of them, anyway.

Instead of bailing out the airlines (again), throw some money their way.

[babylonsister]

2. I am appalled this admin

didn't think to order them, then I'm not. SOP, do the least possible.

[TwilightZone]

5. I have no idea what they were thinking.

Can't tell if they thought they could stall until November or if it would just go away or if they were just blind to reality.

All of the above and more, probably.

[Roland99]

3. *could*. Ok. Soo. Do it!!

[Ilsa]

4. They need three eight-hour shifts going as

long as they can get the parts and materials in time. The federal government should be paying them big bucks to crank them out.