Hospitals in New York are facing disastrously low levels of oxygen, a problem that could be seen globally as demand increases in line with greater numbers of coronavirus cases.
Some patients, particularly those who develop pneumonia, require supplemental oxygen when facing breathing difficulties, and a lack of supply will prove to be similarly problematic to the shortage of ventilators that is also being seen around the world.
According to a news report from Good Morning America, in New York Presbyterian hospitals, nearly 27% of all coronavirus patients are on ventilators, and the lack of oxygen available could compound the struggle of getting the right supplies.
Ventilators essentially control the oxygen and airflow from a patients lungs, and support them when they are not working to their full capacity. An oxygen tank is also needed to supply ventilators with the necessary oxygen to do this.
Speaking during the news report, anesthesiologist Dr Peter Papadakos said to Good Morning America this demand for ventilators and oxygen has never been seen before in the U.S. or globally.
‘The problem with Oxygen at this point in the Covid-19 pandemic, is that instead of having 20 patients in an ICU is that hospitals now have 300 patients, all on ventilators that are consuming oxygen 24/7,’ he said.
‘This is demand we have never seen before throughout the United States, or throughout the world.’
Dr Peter Papadakos speaks to Good Morning America and says that the U.S. and the world has never seen this level of demand for oxygen
Ventilators control oxygen and airflow into people’s lungs and require oxygen tanks to do so. With so many people on ventilators, the demand for oxygen has shot up
A patient hooked up to an oxygen tank is wheeled into a hospital in New York City
Doctors on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York have been sounding alarm bells over hospital’s struggle to get hold the correct PPE equipment, ventilators and drugs used in the treatment of patients, and they are now saying the same for oxygen.
One emergency room doctor at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, N.Y told ABC News: ‘The hospital was close to running out of oxygen. With the number of patients we have, we are using up resources at an unusual rate.’
Another doctor, Dr Dorian Alexander at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, said ‘we burn through oxygen every day.’
A large tank of oxygen is delivered to a temporary field hospital in East Meadow, Central Park that has been set up to treat Covid-19 patients
Temporary field hospitals are being set up in Central Park, N.Y to ease the burden from the Mount Sinai Hospital across the street
Some New York hospitals are reportedly sending some patients home with less serious symptoms with small oxygen tanks to use themselves. Patients who are discharged from hospitals can also be sent home with oxygen tanks to use if required.
Some are given portable oxygen meters to measure their levels to track how they are doing after leaving hospital, and are then contacted by a doctor 12 to 24 hours later.
For patients who develop the most severe symptoms, such as pneumonia and ultimately respiratory distress, supplementary oxygen is required to ensure they can still get enough oxygen into their lungs.
The spike in demand also spells bad news for any non-coronavirus patients who require oxygen, as the global shortage could impact their ability to access it.
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo present a forecast that says the coronavirus death toll could continue to increase through to July
New York state governor Andrew Cuomo gave a press conference yesterday displaying a model that suggests the coronavirus could result in the death rate lasting through the summer.
‘People say “well, when is it over, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks?” This model predics that you’re going to have a high death rate through July,’ he said. ‘If this model is correct, this could go through the summer.’
As of the 1 April, 1,374 people have died from as a result of contracting the coronavirus in New York City
A total of 5,139 people in the U.S have died from the coronavirus, with 1,047 people dying on the 1 April
