Larry Johnson: Cuomo's Corona Panic

Earlier this morning I referred in a comment to Cuomo's hysteria. Larry Johnson goes into that a bit, with some very informational details. It probably explains why the American public appreciates Trump's performance in this crisis, as opposed to hysterical panic mongers among the media and ruling elite. Johnson also provides some much needed details that also explain the daunting task facing our healthcare system in attempting to come to grips with this pandemic. The risk of system overload is very real.

Johnson begins Cuomo's Corona Panic by quoting Cuomo's juvenile--and deeply ignorant--tirade from yesterday:

[Cuomo] is now accusing the Feds of dragging their feet in getting NYC 30,000 ventilators. Here is the quote: 

"What are you doing sending 400 when I need 30,000 ventilators," Cuomo said. "You're missing the magnitude of the problem." 

No Cuomo, you do not understand. For starters, you do not have 10,000 patients on a ventilator now. The number of patients who test positive does not mean that all will require a ventilator. The numbers available so far indicate most who test positive for corona virus are not being hospitalized. That means the numbers for ventilators are not going to skyrocket and immediately outstrip the existing capability.

...

Shame on him. He has a duty to help educate his constituency. Let us start with the production reality--you cannot magically produce ventilators overnight. The existing manufacturers have limited, not UNLIMITED, capabilities to expand production.

That's good, but then Johnson digs deeper, based on his own experience as working his way through college as a Respiratory Therapy Tech and handling patients on ventilators.

Producing the machines is the easy part. It is the human infrastructure that is the problem. If there are 30,000 ventilators up and running then you need an additional 45,000 ICU qualified nurses and an additional 22,500 Respiratory Therapy Technicians. (I am assuming one ICU nurse can handle two patients per shift. There are three eight hour shifts per day. I am assuming that one Respiratory Therapy Tech can handle 8 ventilators per shift and there are three eight hour shifts per day).  

Along with the ventilators and the nurses and the respiratory techs you will also need oxygen, vacuum and forced air lines for each ventilator station. The nurses and techs also will have to put on new personal protection gear and respirators for each patient encounter (normally, a nurse assigned to a patient can last about three hours in a PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) suit and mask). There is another major complication to consider--every time the nurse goes in and out of the patient room then the nurse (or tech) must put on and then take off the personal protection gear. This can be time consuming if done properly. 

... The ventilators require regular changes of the tubing that connects the patient to the machine. And there are also medications sometimes administered via the ventilator as an aerosol. Getting a trained, certified Respiratory Therapy Tech requires about two years of school/training. Even with that basic training the new Tech is not ready to handle ventilators. That requires additional training. 

Getting a qualified ICU nurse is more daunting and more concerning. Ideally the nurse has a four year degree. But there are very sound ICU nurses now on the job with only two years of post-high school education. But to become qualified to work effectively in an ICU a nurse will have to have a minimum of one month of training.

If Republicans are Deplorables, how does one characterize Liberals based on their performance thus far? The Despicables?