51–60 of 148 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
calling Elon
Elon has been consistently playing down the risk from coronavirus/ https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/13/21179291/elon-musk-corona...
What we really need is a simple ventilator, designed by manufacturers who already know how to design and build these and produced at enormous scale using a shadow factory system similar to that developed in world war 2. In this model, the original manufacturer steps in to guide production, carry out quality control and probably supply the control electronics and software. All physical objects on which our civilisatio…
Devil's advocate: Why would a manufacturer consider damaging what is a potential mega cash cow? I read earlier that ventilators generally sell for $40-70,000USD to hospitals (who then go on to charge $20-40k for ventilator based treatment.) We're much better off right now with the government seizing the means of production and figuring out how to make as many as possible.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1239675564199481347.html
>The President said today that governors should try to get things like respirators and masks on their own. The problem with that approach is that suppliers will have to emergently engage w 50 different state purchasers who would in effect be competing for supply. 8/x
>Instead, the US fed gov should be central buyer and partner to this industry. It brings substantial immediate resources, and clarity. And when manufacturers make new ventilators in a mass effort, the fed gov would help organize their distribution around the country. 9/x
>What we need is a massive fed gov program to buy ventilators on unprecedented scale and with unprecedented speed. They don’t need to be the fanciest ventilators on the market. They need to be able to keep ARDS pts alive through course of COVID infection. 10/x
>This @forbes article gives snapshot of vent industry and a sense of what might be possible. It quotes one US manufacturer from 2 days ago saying he could ramp up production 5 fold but he hasn’t been asked to do it yet.
Can anyone explain why normal ventilators don't just use flow meters on compressed air with a solenoid? A standard pilot valve pneumatic solenoid can switch much faster than this. with regulated air pressure, and an air filter on the air, it seems possible to make it work pretty easily just using compressed air.
Compressed air contains lots of moister. You don't want this. It can also contain oil or other contaminants.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Devil's advocate: Why would a manufacturer consider damaging what is a potential mega cash cow? I read earlier that ventilators generally sell for $40-70,000USD to hospitals (who then go on to charge $20-40k for ventilator based treatment.) We're much better off right now with the government seizing the means of production and figuring out how to make as many as possible.
Planned obsolescence - just tell the hospitals that the cheap $5K ventilator is less durable than the $40K model, and won't be supported after the outbreak. And get the FDA (or whoever certifies medical devices) to do the same - give the cheap units an accelerated approval with a short expiration date.
This appears to be simpler solution that can be AM'd quickly
Also, medical staff prefer not to use face masks because if the mask does not fit well on to the patients face there is a potential to aspirate body fluids and aerolise the virus.
This probably should have gone on the thread about flattening the curve not being enough. But. Where is the core team of 12 people plus 108 collaborators that should have been assembled a month and a half ago to figure out how to retune US manufacturing to start producing stripped down ICU beds and the supplies needed to keep them operational? This game is easy. The parameters are well understood. You could assign th…
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Because that manufacturer is not a monopoly, if they won’t produces, other will. Also, government is much less effective at producing things than private companies.
Is there actual evidence for this? That governments aren't as effective at producing things. This gets bandied about a lot but I'm not sure it's true. I think governments can be highly effective at producing things.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Elon has been consistently playing down the risk from coronavirus/ https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/13/21179291/elon-musk-corona...
Who would have thought that a loudmouthed self promoter with an overinflated sense of his own intelligence and a history of making thoroughly unrealistic and unscientific predictions would get this one wrong too?
I thought you were going to say "a history of making thoroughly unrealistic goals come to fruition" because that seems more accurate.
This probably should have gone on the thread about flattening the curve not being enough. But. Where is the core team of 12 people plus 108 collaborators that should have been assembled a month and a half ago to figure out how to retune US manufacturing to start producing stripped down ICU beds and the supplies needed to keep them operational? This game is easy. The parameters are well understood. You could assign th…
Any hospital bed + a ventilator is probably good enough. Sounds like the government and hospitals are putting in orders wherever they can.
But I imagine hospitals aren't going to buy slapped together untested products unless its really really bad.