Comments on: How Britain’s Traditional Print Media Hyped Swine Flu http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/how-britains-traditional-print-media-hyped-swine-flu/ A Refreshing Blend of Printer Technology News, Guides & Reviews Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:48:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: vibrant62 http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/how-britains-traditional-print-media-hyped-swine-flu/comment-page-1/#comment-5646 vibrant62 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:54:41 +0000 http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/news/?p=2652#comment-5646 Oh - and one other thing... there are @2400 ventilators in the UK with 1900 ICU beds. Average length of stay of severe patients has been three weeks in ICU. In the UK at baseline we have near 100% occupancy of critical care/ ICU beds for other things. Along with cancellations of surgery for cancer, heart ops (to free up ventilators from operating theatres) and subsequent deaths, there will be many more such headlines to come as there will be deaths because of delays to treatment; there is also a high risk that people who will need ventilation will not be able to access it. ARDS (viral pneumonia) is a particularly nasty condition that is very difficult to treat - and we only have 5 ECMO units. If the UK population are unprepared psychologically for this and what it means, stretched NHS services will be having to deal with some nasty situations with desperate families on top of thier work trying to save lives. A balance has to be struck between not creating panic and using the 'teachable moments'. Hopefully it will not come to this - but there is a very real possibility that there will be major issues like this in the months ahead, stretching well into 2010 and possibly even beyond, before this pandemic can be considered to be over. Oh – and one other thing… there are @2400 ventilators in the UK with 1900 ICU beds. Average length of stay of severe patients has been three weeks in ICU. In the UK at baseline we have near 100% occupancy of critical care/ ICU beds for other things. Along with cancellations of surgery for cancer, heart ops (to free up ventilators from operating theatres) and subsequent deaths, there will be many more such headlines to come as there will be deaths because of delays to treatment; there is also a high risk that people who will need ventilation will not be able to access it. ARDS (viral pneumonia) is a particularly nasty condition that is very difficult to treat – and we only have 5 ECMO units. If the UK population are unprepared psychologically for this and what it means, stretched NHS services will be having to deal with some nasty situations with desperate families on top of thier work trying to save lives.

A balance has to be struck between not creating panic and using the ‘teachable moments’. Hopefully it will not come to this – but there is a very real possibility that there will be major issues like this in the months ahead, stretching well into 2010 and possibly even beyond, before this pandemic can be considered to be over.

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