WEBVTT - How Are We Preparing for a Possible Shortage of Life-Saving Ventilators?

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, March. I'm Oscar Ramiras from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily coronavirus update.

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<v Speaker 1>Many experts have signaled that the U S could be

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<v Speaker 1>in for a shortage of life saving ventilators. While we

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<v Speaker 1>are not currently short, hospitals are trying to brace themselves

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<v Speaker 1>for a spike in severe cases where patients need help breathing.

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<v Speaker 1>The government is ordering more and encouraging states to also

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<v Speaker 1>do the same. Dr Jeanette Nesh, what Fox News medical

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<v Speaker 1>contributor joins us for What to Know about a possible

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<v Speaker 1>ventilator shortage? Thanks for joining us, Dr Nesh, what my pleasure?

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to talk about ventilators in this whole thing

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<v Speaker 1>that we're going through with a coronavirus COVID nineteen. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people, a lot of experts, are pointing to

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<v Speaker 1>a possible ventilator shortage, and really that's the main supportive

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<v Speaker 1>treatment for patients that get into this critical stage of

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<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen. A lot of them need to be put

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<v Speaker 1>on these ventilators when their lungs just aren't providing the

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<v Speaker 1>amount of oxygen that they need. Dr Nesh, what tell

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<v Speaker 1>us a little bit about this whole process of getting

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<v Speaker 1>ventilators and this possible shortage that we could be seeing.

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<v Speaker 1>We don't have ventilator shortage right now. This is just

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<v Speaker 1>a matter of predicting the future, predicting our potential needs

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<v Speaker 1>and preparing for the potential of having to have thousands

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<v Speaker 1>and thousands of more ventilators. We currently have thousands in

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<v Speaker 1>our current stockstiles here in the United States, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>estimated that we may be thousands short. But as it

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<v Speaker 1>is right now, manufacturers have been working with our governments

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<v Speaker 1>administration to help create and produce not only more ventilators,

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<v Speaker 1>but also pp s were which are just as critical

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<v Speaker 1>for helthcare providers. PPEs meaning gowns, mass gloves, those sorts

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<v Speaker 1>of things. For those that aren't familiar with what a

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<v Speaker 1>ventilator is, sometimes an infection can get into your system

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<v Speaker 1>and can cause shok and people can stop breathing on

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<v Speaker 1>their own. So the ventilator is just an artificial breathing

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<v Speaker 1>tool until your body is well enough been strong enough

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<v Speaker 1>to breathe on its own, if you will. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>the purpose of that. Someone comes in with respiratory distress

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<v Speaker 1>and oxygen isn't helping. Steroids aren't helping, and they're not

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<v Speaker 1>able to breathe on their own, you know, they lose

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<v Speaker 1>consciousness sometimes maps when we have to put them on

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<v Speaker 1>a ventilator and that means where we put a tube

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<v Speaker 1>into your body so that we can do artificial breathing

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<v Speaker 1>for you. And the goal is it's just to be

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<v Speaker 1>temporary until your body heals. Yeah, the administration has said

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<v Speaker 1>that they've ordered a lot more. Obviously we have a

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<v Speaker 1>stockpile also, but they're encouraging states and cities and other

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<v Speaker 1>hospitals to go straight to the manufacturers I guess to

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<v Speaker 1>order them as well. These things can be very costly.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the manufacturers is called Medtronics so Metronic I

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<v Speaker 1>SEU ventilator can cost between twenty five thou to fifty

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<v Speaker 1>dollars and they're big, they're big items. But beyond this,

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<v Speaker 1>also the people needed to operate these ventilators is important also,

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<v Speaker 1>And as you mentioned, there's not necessarily a shortage now,

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<v Speaker 1>but we're trying to get ahead of this so predicting

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<v Speaker 1>the future, but there are lower numbers of people that

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<v Speaker 1>can actually operate these things as well. We have what

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<v Speaker 1>are called our keys respiratory technicians who are just phenomenal

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<v Speaker 1>and monitoring patients who are on ventilators. They work closely

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<v Speaker 1>with i C pulmonologists and they are just critical in

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<v Speaker 1>the field of pulmonology and I C use and yes,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are short on healthcare providers, then it defeats

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<v Speaker 1>the purpose of having the equipment. So that's why it's

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<v Speaker 1>so important to that we keep our healthcare providers that

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<v Speaker 1>we do have healthy and safe, and also not only

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<v Speaker 1>stock up on ventilators and other supplies, but also have

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<v Speaker 1>surge staffing to help meet the potential surge capacity that

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<v Speaker 1>we may see here in the next few weeks. Dr.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to ask about your practice in general and

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<v Speaker 1>patients that you've seen coming in obviously worried that they

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<v Speaker 1>might have coronavirus. You've done a bunch of testing as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell us about that process and just patients that you've

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<v Speaker 1>seen and most likely suspect that they have this as well. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not a surprise that we're going to see increase

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<v Speaker 1>number of cases, especially as we have the expansion of

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<v Speaker 1>testing capability. I have had patients come in with flu

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<v Speaker 1>like symptoms, covid like symptoms, the symptoms overlap. A lot

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<v Speaker 1>of them are are similar fever cops, shortness of breath,

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<v Speaker 1>a source throat, and running nose congestion. So what we

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<v Speaker 1>do is initially we will check their vitals and do

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<v Speaker 1>an influenza test first, which is a quick test that

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<v Speaker 1>you swab the nose, and if that is positive, then

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<v Speaker 1>we stop right there and we will send them home

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<v Speaker 1>on medications and follow up instructions. But if it's a

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<v Speaker 1>negative test and they have fever, low oxygen levels, and

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<v Speaker 1>that they don't look well and they need the criteria,

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<v Speaker 1>then we will proceed to swab them for coronavirus, and

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<v Speaker 1>while we wait for those results, we put them on

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<v Speaker 1>fourteen day quarantine so that they are not infecting other

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<v Speaker 1>people while we're waiting for those results, which can take

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<v Speaker 1>several days up to a week as it is right now,

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<v Speaker 1>but soon and I hope we'll be able to have

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<v Speaker 1>a more rapid testing results a specific medicine that you prescribe.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's say they test negative for the flu and we

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<v Speaker 1>suspect to have COVID nineteen. Is there any medication that

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<v Speaker 1>you're prescribing at that point? As of right now, there

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<v Speaker 1>is no FDA Improved medications to treat COVID nineteen coronavirus.

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<v Speaker 1>There are some areas of the world where they're using,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, anti virals like called REMDA severe callitris. Some

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<v Speaker 1>anti HIV medicine and some LA medicines have been tried. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>some malaria medications have been used as a last resort.

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<v Speaker 1>But as it is right now, the only thing I'm

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<v Speaker 1>prescribing our supportive medicine. Like, for example, as someone says

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<v Speaker 1>I just feel a little short of bread, I will

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<v Speaker 1>give them a breathing nebulizer machine in the office, and

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<v Speaker 1>I will prescribe to them and an inhaler like an

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<v Speaker 1>albuterole inhaler for example. And if they're coughing, I will also,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, say hey, use the humidifier, drink lots of fluids,

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<v Speaker 1>stay hydrated. You can use them over the counter cough

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<v Speaker 1>medicines and all over the counter thail and al robit

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<v Speaker 1>proform for fever. And sometimes I'll prescribe prescriptions drink cough

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<v Speaker 1>medicine like Benzona, take capsules or something like that, or

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<v Speaker 1>some corpstips only if it's needed. If there for example,

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<v Speaker 1>having trouble sleeping or if they're wheezing, then will add

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit of a steroid to so it's more

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<v Speaker 1>symptomatic care. But of course that's not all. We really

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<v Speaker 1>have to make sure that we're giving them very strict

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<v Speaker 1>precautions to stay home and rest so that they don't

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<v Speaker 1>spread to other people. Even if it's not coronavirus, the

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<v Speaker 1>flues that's contagious, you can spread that as well. And

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<v Speaker 1>then on top of that we give them very strict

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<v Speaker 1>our precautions and tell them if your symptoms worse and

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<v Speaker 1>if you cannot breathe, if you're having chest pain and

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<v Speaker 1>your sort of breath, then will have them seek further

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<v Speaker 1>medical care and give them emergency instructions. Dr Jeanette Nish

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<v Speaker 1>what Fox News medical contributor and family and emergency medical doctor,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us. It's my pleasure.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you for having me. This has been your daily

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus update. Don't forget that. For today's big news stories,

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