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>I cannot really think of a story where an over-capacity hospital leads to the same or reduced mortality. I think the emphasis on ventilators at the beginning
by desine 5y ago
>I cannot really think of a story where an over-capacity hospital leads to the same or reduced mortality.
I think the emphasis on ventilators at the beginning of the pandemic likely caused an increase in mortality in hospitalized patients. At peak panic, there was a big push to create and distribute ventilators, including open source projects, big name tech billionaires dedicating resources, etc. Then we realized these were actually damaging lungs further, and nixed that treatment, switching to oxygen supplementation only.
- jdavis703 5y agoI’m not sure which country’s “peak” you’re referring to, but in the US the peak was over Q4 2020 to Q1 2021. By this point doctors had already realized the issues with ventilators.
- desine 5y agoPeak cases != Peak panic
- dboreham 5y agoThis is interesting to read now, because at the time (March 2020) I was watching Drs from Italy on YouTube saying that they recommended hi-flow O2 and proning with surgical masks on the patient. I remember this because I researched whether it would be worthwhile buying O2 cylinders or a generator, concluding : no, because it would be hard to produce the necessary flow with available equipment. Somehow this memo didn't make it out to the wider medical community it appears.
- afterburner 5y agoI don't think anyone actually used the "open source" ventilators did they? They were woefully lacking in critical features that prevent lung damage.