tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
American hospitals have enough ventilators to handle medical need on par with the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) season, according to a first-ever comprehensive tally of U.S. ventilator supply published in the October issue of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.
The study, based on a survey of nearly 75% of U.S. hospitals, estimates that there are 62,188 full-feature mechanical ventilators available, a per-population figure higher than other developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Nearly half of these machines can be used to ventilate children and infants, the study said. There are an additional 82,755 positive-pressure ventilators, the study estimated (www.dmphp.org/cgi/content/short/4/3/199).
As fears of an influenza pandemic grew in 2008 and 2009, some experts estimated that as many as 30% of those infected would need ventilator care, far outstripping the supply of machines and posing an ethical dilemma on how to ration access to limited care.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/11/01/prbf1101.htm
The study, based on a survey of nearly 75% of U.S. hospitals, estimates that there are 62,188 full-feature mechanical ventilators available, a per-population figure higher than other developed countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Nearly half of these machines can be used to ventilate children and infants, the study said. There are an additional 82,755 positive-pressure ventilators, the study estimated (www.dmphp.org/cgi/content/short/4/3/199).
As fears of an influenza pandemic grew in 2008 and 2009, some experts estimated that as many as 30% of those infected would need ventilator care, far outstripping the supply of machines and posing an ethical dilemma on how to ration access to limited care.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/11/01/prbf1101.htm