It's Time to Build Ventilators Like We're at War and Our Lives Depend on It

[babylonsister]

OPINION | coronavirus
It’s Time to Build Ventilators Like We’re at War and Our Lives Depend on It
We are, and they do.
By TOM INGLESBY and ERIC TONER
03/20/2020 05:10 PM EDT
Tom Inglesby is the director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Eric Toner is a senior scholar with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a senior scientist in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health and Engineering.


On Thursday, the president said during his White House coronavirus briefing that “nobody in their wildest dreams would have ever thought that we’d need tens of thousands of ventilators.” But this need has long been recognized. Those in the pandemic and hospital preparedness community, including us, have warned for years about the likelihood of a mismatch in demand and ability to care for critically ill people, should a pandemic the likes of the 1918 Spanish Flu take place again.

Now that very situation is upon us, and it’s abundantly clear that the United States government needs to step in immediately. We are facing an impact from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, that is unlike anything we have seen in modern times. For the battle against it, the U.S. needs a wartime mobilization to make mass numbers of ventilators, and to ensure the oxygen supply will be sufficient around the country for all the patients who will need it. The federal government needs to do something far more ambitious than sounding the alarm or coordinating with manufacturers: It needs to become the primary buyer and central market of ventilators. And doing so is both within its stated reach and part of its duty.

With the authority of the Defense Production Act, the U.S. government should approach, if it has not already done so, all ventilator manufacturers in the country and enter into very clear and binding contracts that commit the federal government to pay companies to move to maximum production for the indefinite future. The Defense Logistics Agency, with its massive capabilities and experience, could play a role in coordinating such an ambitious operation.

The principal reason people die after coronavirus infection is that they get overwhelming pneumonia and their lungs fail. While a ventilator can’t save all people with respiratory failure, it could be the critical difference between life and death for many patients. The problem is, unless we “flatten the curve,” there are, and will continue to be, far more Americans who need ventilators than the number of ventilators in America.

more...

https://www.politico.com/news/agenda/2020/03/20/ventilators-wartime-mobilization-139581

[redstatebluegirl]

1. Like we built planes and ships on WWII.

[Crunchy Frog]

4. We had a president during WWII.

[Igel]

6. We had grown ups pointing out 6 weeks ago that we'd need thousands.

Sadly, as soon as it came to placing orders, they suffered Rapid Infantilization Syndrome.

It's been reported it'll take 45+ days to ramp up production. 6 weeks. There's 42 days. We'd have them arriving around now.

Instead we're going to have politicians standing around with relatives of the dead, saying in anger, "I told others to do something, and they didn't. It's not my responsibility."

[Sarah Coventry]

5. To all the whiners out there

If y’all are complaining about having to stay home to stop this virus with your pets, your kids, your significant others, your iPads, smart phones, video games, your Netflix, hbo, showtime, Amazon, Hulu, your porn, YouTube, online gambling, take out food, booze, your gardens, your lawns, your swimming pools......you don’t have to build a plane a day at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft like my mother did during the war, you don’t have to be a UDT sailor and disarm underground mines like my father did, or storm the beaches at Normandy when you’re 17 years old, or work in the fields picking cotton in 100* heat, or never have a day off taking care of 6 kids cause there wasn’t birth control, GET OVER YOURSELF. (Rant over)

[Crunchy Frog]

7. That's not what people are talking about.

I'm guessing you didn't even read the OP because it was about the need to manufacture ventilators and other medical equipment on an emergency basis, to minimize the number of deaths from the pandemic.

Literally NOBODY on this site has been complaining about having to stay home.

Enjoy your stay here.

[cry baby]

8. +1000

[GP6971]

9. Welcome to DU.

Enjoy your stay!!

[42bambi]

11. I'm sorry you feel that way about people you barely know. Once you are with DU for awhile

you will see most of us here are very giving and understanding. We try to let each person just be himself/herself. We enjoy sharing our lives with each other. Sure, sometimes we have strong opinions, and sometimes we are dealing with stress and need to express it, or -- we just need a sane place to go. So often when I'm feeling a little lonely or just need a laugh, this is where I come. I think when you get to know us you'll be surprised how easy it is to belong here.

[RockRaven]

2. And PPE. Ventilators are worthless if all the trained medical personnel are sick/dead.

Billions of masks, gloves, face-shields, and gowns are required. Literally billions of pieces of PPE.

[dhol82]

3. Exactly!

[Fiendish Thingy]

10. Trump's negligence should be grounds for impeachment

How bad does it have to get before the bankers and hedge fund guys call Moscow Mitch and order him to dump Trump.