eelgrass
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California once had mobile hospitals and a ventilator stockpile. But it dismantled them
Each hospital would be the size of a football field, with a surgery ward, intensive care unit and X-ray equipment. Medical response teams would also have access to a massive stockpile of emergency supplies: 50 million N95 respirators, 2,400 portable ventilators and kits to set up 21,000 additional patient beds wherever they were needed.
“They were not like a MASH tent on TV,” said Aristeiguieta, who supervised the startup of the program. “They were fully insulated, HVAC-equipped, semi-permanent tents. They had ventilators, a full complement of medications, and they would roll out in 18-wheelers with [a Highway Patrol] escort. They had sleeping quarters for the staff — really comprehensive.”
Then-Assemblyman Bill Monning, a Democrat from Carmel, suggested the state should sell its unneeded medical equipment on eBay. “I say this not intending to be funny,” the Sacramento Bee quoted him as saying. Monning, now a state senator, did not respond to an interview request.
Each hospital would be the size of a football field, with a surgery ward, intensive care unit and X-ray equipment. Medical response teams would also have access to a massive stockpile of emergency supplies: 50 million N95 respirators, 2,400 portable ventilators and kits to set up 21,000 additional patient beds wherever they were needed.
“They were not like a MASH tent on TV,” said Aristeiguieta, who supervised the startup of the program. “They were fully insulated, HVAC-equipped, semi-permanent tents. They had ventilators, a full complement of medications, and they would roll out in 18-wheelers with [a Highway Patrol] escort. They had sleeping quarters for the staff — really comprehensive.”
Then-Assemblyman Bill Monning, a Democrat from Carmel, suggested the state should sell its unneeded medical equipment on eBay. “I say this not intending to be funny,” the Sacramento Bee quoted him as saying. Monning, now a state senator, did not respond to an interview request.
California once had mobile hospitals and a ventilator stockpile. But it dismantled them
The ambitious effort, which would have been vital as the state confronts the new coronavirus today, hit a wall: a recession, a fall in state revenues — and the administration
napavalleyregister.com