COVID – States Running Out of Oxygen; One Answer; Common Oxygen Extractors, Plus CPAPs, Can Save Many Lives
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States Are Running Out Of Oxygen
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 2, 2021) - Parts of the country - especially some southern states and Hawaii - are running out of oxygen as the number of hospitalized COVID patients continue to soar, but two common devices can help save the lives of all but the sickest, says professor John Banzhaf.
Several hospitals in Florida, South Carolina, Texas, and Louisiana are struggling with a scarcity of hospital oxygen so severe that they may run out imminently, but there are many so-called "oxygen generators" (or "extractors") sitting in medical device warehouses. or in homes where they may not longer be needed.
Either by themselves, or especially when coupled with another common device called a CPAP, these oxygen extractors can help many COVID patients breathe and get enough oxygen to keep them alive, says Banzhaf, noting that other CPAP-like breathing-assist devices such as BiPAPs and APAPs can also be utilized.
Fortunately there is a way for Americans to help fight back and save lives by donating two different types of often-no-longer-needed devices - CPAPs and other breathing-assist machines, and oxygen concentrators [generators] - says Banzhaf, who first popularized an approach which has now been adopted and approved by the FDA and its counterpart in Australia, and is being used in some hospitals. See http://banzhaf.net/by/COVID.html
Donating Breathing Assistance
There are more than 8 million current American users of CPAP machines - and many more who use similar respiratory-assist devices such as bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) and automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) machines - primarily for sleep apnea and related problems such as snoring.
But as some of these patients die, or simply no longer need such breathing assistance (e.g., if loss of weight cures a sleeping problem), these precious potentially life-saving machines could be donated for use where they are most needed, and some COVID patients can stay alive and perhaps even recover with some respiratory assistance short of that provided by expensive hospital ventilators.
Similarly, millions of Americans use oxygen concentrators to extract oxygen from the air to provide it to people whose oxygen saturation levels are too low. As these patients eventually die, or for other reasons no longer need supplemental oxygen, these devices could likewise be donated to help keep oxygen-starved COVID-19 patients alive in the U.S. as well as in developing countries, argues Banzhaf.
While expensive hospital-style ventilators and medical-grade oxygen in cylinders is usually best, the lives of many COVID patients who experience breathing problems could be saved by improvising, and using oxygen concentrators and/or CPAP-type devices, says Banzhaf, who urges Americans to donate no-longer-needed oxygen concentrators and breathing devices such a CPAPs to appropriate charities - and even receive a small tax deduction for their charitable donation.
