As hospitals prepare for a flood of desperately ill patients unable to breathe on their own, public health experts are calling on the federal government to oversee
the nation’s ventilator supply so hospitals overwhelmed by coronavirus patients are not forced to ration the lifesaving equipment.
There are currently fewer than 200,000 ventilators in the United States, when nearly a million could be needed over the course of the pandemic. As leaders continue to wrangle over how to increase the supply of the crucial equipment, experts are suggesting that the existing stock could be used more efficiently.
Because peak coronavirus infections will hit cities and regions at different times in the coming months, experts are calling for a centralized federal effort to send machines to infection hot spots from cities and states that have yet to experience significant numbers of cases.
“This is a national crisis,” said Frank Kendall, who served as under secretary of defense for acquisition and logistics in the Obama administration. “In a time of scarcity, you can’t leave it up to companies and governors to manage it themselves.”
Mr. Kendall said that only the federal government had the authority to take over the allocation of ventilators, both from manufacturers who are in the business of selling devices to the highest bidder, and state leaders who are unlikely to voluntarily let go of machines they fear they might need in the future.
“As the states become more desperate, someone has to referee the situation,” he said. “The marketplace isn’t set up to do that."