HSE Respirators

Hopefullly some journalist will pose your question (and Ask about ECMOs)

ECMOs are apparently the machines that are needed when your own heart and lungs are not functioning well enuough. i.e. would be needed after in cases where ventilators are not enough.

I have heard people say we have 1-2 ECMO machines, from a quick google It appears we have at least 4.

Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin has three ECMO machines
Mater is the only place in Ireland that provides ECMO to adult patients
 
Had anyone heard any numbers on number of ventilators we can operate in Ireland?

This is and will be a very important number, the sooner it is in the public domain and being actively managed the better.
 
I see the uk calling for more to be bought and manufactured. Medtronic manufactures them here. Very little talk about assts on air.
 
It is said we have 6 ventilators per 100k people. (I don't have source)

4.9 million people = 49 sets of 100k = about 300 ventilators although I assume some are lost/broken.

When we are at about 3000 active infections we are at capacity, assuming ten percent need ventilators.

We are doubling every two or so days, so we might go 300, 600, 1200, 2400. That gives us about six to eight days till we are above capacity.
 
Thanks! let call it 1500 within two weeks. So capacity of 15k active cases.

And given 4800,9600,19200, we might be there in 12-14 days.

hopefully the lock down and stronger messaging will slow the rate of growth.
 
Prime Time suggests that we have 1029 ventilators in Public Hospitals, 200 in Private Hospitals and a further 900 ordered.
No health service can cope with what Italy and China have endured according to Dr. Catherine Motherway of UHL.
 
Fidgety said:
Prime Time suggests that we have 1029 ventilators in Public Hospitals, 200 in Private Hospitals and a further 900 ordered.
No health service can cope with what Italy and China have endured according to Dr. Catherine Motherway of UHL.
Click to expand...

RTE news article has further details:
www.rte.ie

900 ventilators ordered for use in Covid-19 pandemic

The Health Service Executive has said 900 new ventilators have been ordered for use with patients with Covid-19 and some of those will be delivered by the end of the month.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie

The Health Service Executive has said that 900 new ventilators have been ordered for use with patients with Covid-19 and some of those will be delivered by the end of the month. That is in addition to the 1,229 machines currently available in the country.
Following concerns expressed by senior doctors about the availability of intensive care unit beds (ICU), the HSE told RTÉ's Prime Time there is a current capacity of 255 ICU beds in the country, while a further 51 critical care beds have been approved by Government.
A study commissioned by the HSE more than a decade ago recommended more than 500 intensive care beds were needed.

On Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), the HSE said there are challenges in a volatile market, with export bans and export limits in place in many countries. It said it has secured continuity of supply through an agreement with an international supplier. Millions of face masks, goggles and face shields will begin arriving in the next two weeks. Chief Clinical Officer at the HSE Dr Colm Henry said the the Department of Health has secured a "steady stream" of PPE for healthcare workers. This includes 6.5 million face masks, 4.5 million respiratory masks and over one million goggles.
He said this was done through a company in China with the assistance of the Chinese authorities.
 
In relation to the scarcity of ventilators globally, could I ask what members think having read this artice from RTE’s News web-site? If you can avoid the temptation, please don’t follow any of the embedded links and just post the impression you are left with.

www.rte.ie

Irish project tackles global ventilator shortage

An Irish team is leading an international community of engineers, designers and medical professionals who are trying to develop a low-cost, easy-to-assemble ventilator to use in the battle against coronavirus.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie

Thanks.
 
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Is there a breakdown of the location of these 1000+ ventilators. How many are in each public hospital ? Can the public get a breakdown ? Any new ECMO machines planned ? How many anaesthetists are employed in each public hospital ? I have heard about delays in getting test results in the last few days. Patients and hospital consultants who have symptoms, waiting on results since Thursday. I have also heard that some patients are in isolation in hospital beds since Thursday with no results available yet. Staff are using PPE around the clock to manage these possible cases, possibly wasting PPE if they are negative. Is it anticipated that test results will be available much faster than the current turnaround time in the days ahead. Have any journalists asked about the sensitivity of coronavirus testing ? What is the expected % of false negative tests ?
 
Susie2017 said:
Staff are using PPE around the clock to manage these possible cases, possibly wasting PPE if they are negative.
Click to expand...

With ~25% of confirmed cases in Ireland now being health care workers, are you suggesting they don't need to wear PPE when working areas with multiple potential cases?

Susie2017 said:
What is the expected % of false negative tests ?
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Varies with timing, but up to 25% false negatives if the test is performed too early in the infection cycle.
 
No. Im stating that the delay in getting test results is leading to patients being isolated and staff using up PPE when they wouldnt otherwise need to if they had a rapid test result. They may be using up PPE that might be badly needed in the weeks ahead. Testing delays and result turnaround times are a problem. Saying that there are just 200+ cases today is not reassuring when there are inpatients in beds for days waiting for results, many people at home for days waiting on results and thousands in the community waiting to be swabbed. I know of people waiting for swab appts for 5 days.

The false negative rate seems high in the literature. The chinese used CT a lot as it shows quite specific radiological features. I think clinicians are aware that if a patient has a negative swab but an otherwise typical presentation then they should continue isolation and retest. Hope the testing can be scaled up with much faster TATs soon.
 
New York estimate that they will need 140,000 beds and 40,000 ICU beds.
They have twice our population so if we get the same infection rate over the same time frame we'd need 70,000 hospital beds and 20,000 ICU beds. Every one of those ICU beds will need a Ventilator.

We currently have about 14,000 hospital beds in Ireland (and they already have people in them) and around 250 ICU beds.
 
Susie2017 said:
No. Im stating that the delay in getting test results is leading to patients being isolated and staff using up PPE when they wouldnt otherwise need to if they had a rapid test result. They may be using up PPE that might be badly needed in the weeks ahead. Testing delays and result turnaround times are a problem.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about admitted patients? If so these will all be in areas which already have multiple confirmed cases present. Staff have guidance on wearing PPE in these areas, even still 25% of confirmed cases here are health care staff. If we encourage them to discard the PPE, we'll quickly get to a point where we run out of staff.
 
Of course they should not discard PPE. The point I'm making is that testing needs to be scaled up rapidly to cope with demand, appropriate patient management and use of resources.
 
Susie2017 said:
I know of people waiting for swab appts for 5 days.
Click to expand...
My grandson, a vulnerable member of the community, has been waiting 5+ days already and that may stretch to 10+ to be swabbed plus the time it takes to get the sample tested, plus the time to communicate the results. But of course Leo, Simon, Holohan & Co are doing a great job according to those they hold in thrall of them
 
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