Written by Daniel Senff, Dennis Schmidt, Juan Dominguez-Moran, Severin Haemmerl & Walter Laurito — March 22, 2020
TL;DR
Italy, Spain, and other countries are already experiencing shortage of ventilators.
In Germany the crisis is getting worse by the day. Our doctors are already expressing their concerns about the lack of necessary equipment, including vital parameter monitors
Availability of vital parameters such as (peripheral) oxygen saturation (SpO2), heart rate, blood pressure is key in order to judge health status of patients and to keep an overview of all patients in a given ward
Medical doctors who are currently treating hundreds of Covid-19 patients in Northern Italy and Spain (including measures such as a strict triage to provide treatment only to patients with highest changes of improved/positive outcome and converting ORs into ICUs) assess their situation as follows:
- Non-ICU setting: measuring vital parameters 3–5 times per day is sufficient in order to determine worsening health situation of patients; currently enough equipment; skeptical to use non-approved technology (e.g. vital parameters via mobile phone), only for stable patients in worst case scenario
- ICU setting: continuous monitoring of vital parameters necessary; currently enough monitoring equipment, but shortage of ventilators; skepticism to use non-approved technology (e.g. vital parameters via mobile phone), only for patients with non-invasive ventilation in worst case scenario
- Improvised ICU setting: see ICU setting, but: lack of compatibility / connectivity of monitoring equipment with / to central screens, nurses need to keep overview of all patient monitors
- Generally: if the situation worsens, the major bottlenecks will be: sufficient numbers of ventilators, of ICU beds, and of trained ICU nurses
