Your help is desperately needed in a life and death battle. Please take a moment and consider this call for help during a time of great need. As a country we are facing an unprecedented public health crisis with COVID-19. Patients are struggling to survive with respiratory failure and treatment is increasingly limited as the number of COVID-19 patients grows each day. You can make a difference in someone’s life by lending your resources here: https://bit.ly/shareventilators.
You likely received similar requests from us on behalf of various states or the White House COVID-19 Task Force; now several groups are collaborating on this push, to eliminate redundant efforts. If you previously added your information to our request on behalf of the White House, there is no need to reenter your information, if not, please consider doing so.
It is anticipated that the need for ventilators to support COVID-19 patients will greatly exceed the number of available ventilators nationally. Doctors in New York have already been reduced to using one ventilator for two patients where no additional ventilators are available, and we have seen the same dire situation play out in other overwhelmed locations. As many of these patients will improve and be extubated after the infection has subsided, the short-term use of a ventilator can save lives. While we await the manufacture and shipment of new machines, patients’ needs continue to grow. This need is in addition to the usual ventilator demand for patients cared for everyday in Intensive Care Units.
Many practices have been put on hold, and many facilities are left empty during nationwide shutdowns as a result of this crisis. Consequently, there are ventilators (anesthesia machines) in office surgery centers, ASC’s, and some hospital facilities that are not currently being used. These machines are desperately needed in places where resources are exhausted. A single ventilator can make a lifesaving difference for many patients during this challenging time.
As we attempt to identify resources that could be available to hospitals in need, please be aware that all ventilators are welcome, regardless of working condition. If you have an older machine that is not functioning, several technicians have volunteered to repair machines, at no expense to the owner, so they can be used in this time of need.
Your help is so important. If you have access to one or more ventilators that could be available to facilities in the event of a shortage, please add your resources to our list https://bit.ly/shareventilators. You will be joining a cadre of concerned providers and organizations who are able to help save lives. No ventilators (or other equipment) will be claimed unless there is a dire need near your location. Should that need arise, you will be contacted to determine whether your resources can be used by the hospital to treat desperate patients. All equipment claimed will be tracked and returned. We are also making efforts to provide compensation for those who lend their resources to help. Please join many of your colleagues in all specialties and across the country by supporting this very important cause.
