Easier Access to Mechanical Ventilation Worldwide: An Urgent need for Low Income Countries, Especially in Face of the Growing COVID-19 Crisis

Published time:04 June 2020

Authors: Claude Guérin, Patrick Lévy

Keywords: low income, economy, poliomyelitis epidemics, severe cardiopulmonary distress, Covid-19

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Abstract

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has stressed the health care system all over the world probably as never before. Because Covid-19 results in an acute hypoxemic respiratory failure that may culminate to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) the number of ICU beds and the amount of ventilators have become resources of the utmost value. As the number of ICU beds have been increased dramatically by upgrading step-down units and post-operative recovery rooms, we have faced with a shortage of ventilators (13-15), probably for the first time since ICU was born, arising ethical issues (16). The response to the ventilators shortage was multiple: enhancement of the production of existing devices, which requires cooperation between industries with different skills.

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Easier access to mechanical ventilation worldwide an urgent need for low income countries, especially in face of the growing COVID-19 crisis

 

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01271-2020