I would hope some of the cheaper offerings like the GTech, we didn’t end up approving, are still useful for the undeveloped world, especially as they were designed to run off-grid.
Why do you think the "undeveloped world" should use these devices?
It's worth watching the video above, if you haven't already. The bag squeezing devices don't do the job of a ventilator, and are likely to cause further damage to the lungs of Covid patients. It's not a case of "anything is better than nothing". Using these devices could actually leave patients in a worse condition.
How are the McLaren CPAPs viewed?
How are the McLaren CPAPs viewed?
I think (someone with more knowledge can correct this) they work effectively, but they do a different job from a ventilator, and are used to treat less severe cases that have not progressed to the stage of requiring ventilation.
The CPAP is a type of device that is already used in hospitals, and Maclaren's version was reverse engineered from an existing design and improved for mass production.
Paywalled article, but the Twitter thread is still pretty good.
https://twitter.com/pmdfoster/status/1251434219139665920
KCR - having watched coverage of previous epidemics in Africa, charity run field hospitals run off grid with very little in the way of facilities, I’d have thought anything that helps would be a plus?
It wasn’t meant in a disparaging way at all, just a dose of reality.
Wow, the reporting in that Twitter thread is utterly damning
ITU experts explained why the "Hackathon" ventilators wouldn't work:
Initially when those concerns were pushed up the chain, the reply came back "that's what the customer wants".
Which begs a question. WHO was the customer?
Not the docs. Not the regulator. Not the patients.
The only answer that fits, is the Government. The politicians.
Essentially, the work by the Bluesky consortium and other Hackathon ventilator manufacturers was a waste of time because the original spec was not fit for purpose, and the government was told it wasn't fit for purpose.
What this speaks to is the deeply worrying tendency of this crop of politicians to think they know best.
The 'cut-the-crap' 'how-hard-can-it-be?' attitudes that leads to headless decision making. It's embarrassing.
Over the last week I've had SO many conversations with docs and experts that remind of the conversations I had with logisticians, port operators, customs clearers over #Brexit.
Expert people TEARING their hair out at the willful numbskullery of the people at the top.
KCR – having watched coverage of previous epidemics in Africa, charity run field hospitals run off grid with very little in the way of facilities, I’d have thought anything that helps would be a plus?
Watch the video that Ewan posted the link to, which is made by someone who knows what they are taking about.
Short answer, the hacked "ventilators" will probably help people to die more quickly. I don't see that as a plus if you're trying to keep people alive.
Fair enough - I’m no charity field medic. I’m just hoping there is something short of a full blown ITU set up that may be of use for the billions with no access to western style health care.
Government fails to order 16 million real face masks offered by existing suppliers, but announces collaboration with retailers including Barbour and Burberry to provide more PPE...
That strategy sounds strangely familiar.
At what point do we say forget national unity, time for a vote of no confidence to get people in to actually do the job?
We should get some Germans to run the UK. They seem pretty good at running economies, pandemic responses, even certain football teams I hear etc.
We could do worse you know.
We should get some Germans to run the UK. They seem pretty good at running economies, pandemic responses, even certain football teams I hear etc.
We could do worse you know.
To be fair, they did offer a few years back, but were turned down, US and Soviet meddling in European politics as usual.
So, number of Dyson built ventilators actually delivered is… ?
We should get some Germans to run the UK.
Already do - House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
I work in R&D for a large manufacturing company (actually worked for Dyson for a few years) and I struggle to see how he has spent 20 million on this in such a short space of time.
I struggle to see how he has spent 20 million on this in such a short space of time.
Perhaps there were ‘hidden costs’
As eskay says. I work for Airbus in RnD an run large projects with multi-million € budgets and struggle to understand how £20m has been spent in, at most, 2 months.
Just getting the paperwork sorted for Orders of that magnitude would take weeks, never mind getting POs issued and goods/services delivered and paid for. Only if that money is labour and he’s had 10000 staff working on it could so much have been spent so quickly.
Why is all the insightful stuff from journalists posted on Twitter? Why does it never seem to make the papers?
editors?
