I wonder what criteria were used during polio epidemics when they rationed those old "iron lung" machines. They must have had some guidelines.
I also wonder what would happen to private insurance companies if a really bad flu epidemic hit the US. Would some insurance companies just declare bankruptcy and disappear in the night, the way some insurance companies do after earthquakes or hurricanes? Or would the government pick up the tab for preventing and treating the flu since it's a communicable disease?
The population of the U.S. is enormous compared to what it was during the polio scare years. Rationing just doesn’t mean then what it will mean NOW. Plus with all the illegals here now....
When I was a kid the Fire Department medics got together with the local High School shop class and built one for our little village. It was not built in a round tube but rather a squarish plywood box. It had all the other features of the "store bought" machine with somewhat more room in the pressure chamber. It worked just fine but we never had call to use it. I'll always remember it as a demonstration of American ingenuity.
Regards,
GtG