[cardcrimson]

Not in the medical field and have only heard of cpap machines from the cleaning contraptions offered online and TV. That makes me think there are lots of cpap machines in homes. Can those help with mild cases?

With a supply of 200,000 ventilators, that seems like a large number. On the supply side, the question is how many are available and working.

Here's the society for critical care medicine and their estimate of the supply of ventilators for the US (plus things like staffing):

https://sccm.org/Blog/March-2020/United-...r-COVID-19

[b]Supply of mechanical ventilators in U.S. acute care hospitals:[/b] Based on a 2009 survey of AHA hospitals, U.S. acute care hospitals are estimated to own approximately 62,000 full-featured mechanical ventilators.7 Approximately 46% of these can be used to ventilate pediatric and neonatal patients. Additionally, some hospitals keep older models for emergency purposes. Older models, which are not full featured but may provide basic functions, add an additional 98,738 ventilators to the U.S. supply.7 The older devices include 22,976 noninvasive ventilators, 32,668 automatic resuscitators, and 8,567 continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) units.
[b]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and other ventilator sources: [/b]The SNS has an estimated 8,900 ventilators for emergency deployment. These devices are not full featured but offer basic ventilatory modes. Accessing the SNS requires hospital administrators to request that state health officials ask for access to this equipment. SNS can deliver ventilators within 24-36 hours of the federal decision to deploy them.8,9 States may have their own ventilator stockpiles as well. Respiratory therapy departments also rent ventilators from local companies, further expanding the supply. Additionally, many modern anesthesia machines are capable of ventilating patients and can be used to increase hospitals’ surge capacity.
The addition of older hospital ventilators, SNS ventilators, and anesthesia machines increases the absolute number of ventilators to possibly above 200,000 units. Many of the additional and older ventilators, however, may not be capable of adequately supporting patients with severe acute respiratory failure. Supplies for these ventilators may also not be available due to interruptions in the international supply chain. Moreover, an analysis of the literature suggests that U.S. hospitals could absorb between 26,000 and 56,000 additional ventilators at the peak of a national pandemic, as safe use of ventilators requires trained personnel.10

BC

[cardcrimson]

Not in the medical field and have only heard of cpap machines from the cleaning contraptions offered online and TV. That makes me think there are lots of cpap machines in homes. Can those help with mild cases?

With a supply of 200,000 ventilators, that seems like a large number. On the supply side, the question is how many are available and working.

Here's the society for critical care medicine and their estimate of the supply of ventilators for the US (plus things like staffing):

https://sccm.org/Blog/March-2020/United-...r-COVID-19

[b]Supply of mechanical ventilators in U.S. acute care hospitals:[/b] Based on a 2009 survey of AHA hospitals, U.S. acute care hospitals are estimated to own approximately 62,000 full-featured mechanical ventilators.7 Approximately 46% of these can be used to ventilate pediatric and neonatal patients. Additionally, some hospitals keep older models for emergency purposes. Older models, which are not full featured but may provide basic functions, add an additional 98,738 ventilators to the U.S. supply.7 The older devices include 22,976 noninvasive ventilators, 32,668 automatic resuscitators, and 8,567 continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) units.
[b]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) and other ventilator sources: [/b]The SNS has an estimated 8,900 ventilators for emergency deployment. These devices are not full featured but offer basic ventilatory modes. Accessing the SNS requires hospital administrators to request that state health officials ask for access to this equipment. SNS can deliver ventilators within 24-36 hours of the federal decision to deploy them.8,9 States may have their own ventilator stockpiles as well. Respiratory therapy departments also rent ventilators from local companies, further expanding the supply. Additionally, many modern anesthesia machines are capable of ventilating patients and can be used to increase hospitals’ surge capacity.
The addition of older hospital ventilators, SNS ventilators, and anesthesia machines increases the absolute number of ventilators to possibly above 200,000 units. Many of the additional and older ventilators, however, may not be capable of adequately supporting patients with severe acute respiratory failure. Supplies for these ventilators may also not be available due to interruptions in the international supply chain. Moreover, an analysis of the literature suggests that U.S. hospitals could absorb between 26,000 and 56,000 additional ventilators at the peak of a national pandemic, as safe use of ventilators requires trained personnel.10

BC