Importantly, the reason the NHS is overwhelmed with a relatively few number of IC patients, is because they, like most of the health systems in the West, including the US, are based on the “push” supply system.
This means they have very little extra of anything. They only get what they need for the number of patients they expect to have, plus just a little bit. Then, if say one hospital gets a few unexpected extra patients, all needing the same thing, say an antibiotic, they have to borrow supplies from other hospitals who have a little extra.
However, this can turn deadly in a hurry. As far as influenza goes, for example, the typical flu season in the US needs about 100,000 respirators. Nationwide, we have about 104,000 respirators.
This means that if there is a bad year for influenza, and you need a machine to help your breathe, you may very well get put on a waiting list.
And, of course, if there is a catastrophic health emergency, like a “killer” influenza, a LOT of people won’t be able to get any treatment at all.
And that is why we have triage. It means that the people who might live go here, the people who will probably die go there, and everybody else, well, it sucks to be you.
Precisely. We've heard what turned out to be cries of "Wolf!", but we really cannot afford to ignore the threat, the past nonwithstanding.
We all know the drill: avoid public venues with sick people when possible, use hand sanitizer or wash hands frequently with soap and water, avoid touching your face, wash before eating, etc. Vitamin supplements may prove helpful as well (I believe they have in my case, but that might not work for everyone).
Awareness is as essential to prevention as the steps we take, especially as people tend to let their guard down after a period of seemingly reduced threat levels.
This was brought to my attention via FReepmail, and I figured it best to pass it on.
Yeah, it's a great way to run a tire company. Not so great for hospitals. I think we should have a strategic reserve of both hospital rooms and equipment like respirators.
Hospital rooms reserve has to be community level. And my guess is that most communities have some facility they could convert to hospital rooms if they had to. I don't know, maybe pick a hotel, and upgrade the ventilation systems for it. Use it in an emergency.
Equipment could be a national reserve. Buy in mass to keep the costs low and stick them in a warehouse.