Posted on 03/30/2020 11:10:37 AM PDT by jazusamo
The overwhelming number of coronavirus patients flooding hospitals across the U.S. has resulted in a shortage of ventilators for those experiencing difficulty breathing.
But while President Trump has faced criticism from states, like New York, for the short supply, federal agencies have been predicting the need for more ventilators for nearly two decades. Reports from various government offices have been sounding the alarm over the course of at least three successive presidencies dating back to the George W. Bush administration.
“GAO found that most hospitals lack the capacity to respond to large-scale infectious disease outbreaks,” concluded the U.S. Government Accountability Office in a 2003 report after the SARS outbreak, noting that “few hospitals have adequate medical equipment, such as the ventilators that are often needed for respiratory infections such as SARS, to handle the large increases in the number of patients that may result.”
A 2005 Congressional Research Service report examining avian flu also noted that the U.S. was unlikely to be prepared for a pandemic due to that virus’ effect on the lungs.
“If this strain were to launch a pandemic and retain this trait, large numbers of victims may require intensive care and ventilatory support, likely exceeding national capacity to provide this level of care,” that report said. “In any event, such specialized care is not available in most developing countries, and access to it is uneven within the United States.”
Later that same year, the Department of Health and Human Services released an extensive report on the plan for an influenza pandemic. A key item on their list of actions to take for a “health care and emergency response” was to “assess surge capacity” of medical systems including ventilators, noting the necessity for maintaining an emergency stockpile.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
BS - that’s a matter of pure production numbers. Months, yes - decades no.
Everything is Trump’s fault- even when NY REFUSED to purchase enough to have on hand for emergencies- it’s still somehow Trump’s fault according to the scum o n the l eft
Now the mayor of Louisianan who kept mardi gras going and caused it to become a hotspot as a result is blaming Trump for ‘not telling him to shut it down’
Yeah criticism from states like NY that has a warehouse full of them. But that right, all that matters to the Fake News is the chance to whine at Trump, not the actual facts
[[“If this strain were to launch a pandemic and retain this trait,......
And then get treated by the drug that is nearly 100% effective in saving lives, then all this is moot-
USE THE DRUG HydroxyCHorinique (sp?)!!!
So they knew they were unprepared and did nothing.
This reminds me of the “16 Intelligence agencies say that the Russias were interfering in our election”.
Ok, and they let it happen?
What good are they?
How many agencies knew we were short of equipment, and when did they know it?
Investigate and Fire, investigate and fire.
Yep, the shortage has gone on for years because it wasn’t a priority.
Most probably because politicians didn’t want to part with the money, they had too many pet projects of their own.
And what did Democrats choose to fund INSTEAD of this?
Gender Equity studies, Climate Change hockey stick models, abortions...
The weird thing is every year, upwards of 80,000 people die from the flu- likely from respiratory failures- why weren’t we concerned about shortage during those past flues? There were way more people in respiratory failure/distress then then there are right now (Though that could change when life gets ‘back to normal’ and folks come into contact with others again-)
You misunderstood, there have been warnings for decades that we would faces shortages in the event of a pandemic driven surge in demand.
And sanctuaries for illegal aliens.
Which means we didn’t really have a ventilator shortage. You really shouldn’t be stocked for “someday maybe”. Especially not on expensive medical equipment that’s going to be post dated and thrown out unused in 10 years. It’s like when we had a really nasty icestorm in Tucson about 15 years ago. Some people were complaining that Tucson only has 1 de-icing truck, not nearly up to the task of having all our bridges ice up. But the last time before then we’d had that much ice was before de-icing trucks were invented. And we haven’t had that much again since. 1 is probably too many for us.
federal agencies warn of shortages of everything every budget cycle.
it’s insane to convince people that the normal number of ventilators that all hospitals should keep and maintain is the number of ventilators they would need at the height of a pandemic.
that’s just not the way the world works.
So let’s say NYC gets 100,000 ventilators today.
Who is going to run them?
Art Students?
Film editors?
New York only has 8,000 Inhalation Therapists.
Is it a set it and forget it, or can the monitoring be done by a lower skill level person who calls for help as needed?
Of course, since it’s been a problem for forever, that makes it Trump’s fault, because he’s been here only 3 years, and not Pelosi’s fault, who has been here for 30+ years. /sarc.
China was warned over two decades ago and multiple times since that “wet markets” were a ticking timebomb to create pandemics like the one we currently suffer.
What did they do?
Nothing.
Since when is a President responsible for the number of ventilators in our country? Is he also responsible for the amount of toilet paper in the nation?
I did not think the media could be any more insane in their hatred of Trump, but their idiocy knows no bounds.
Yep, that’s exactly what Pelosi and the Dems would like everyone to believe.
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