Quote:
Originally Posted by Blansky
I would appreciate if the death toll would be less sensationalized and more "professional" in it's depiction of the health of the people before their contracting the virus.
I realize this is difficult but it would make for a far better analysis of when and how we lift restrictions on movements.
Now it's just xx died and we have no idea the ages, general previous health and complications they have pre-existing. We do know that smoking in China and Italy is a real thing. So did a large number of deaths have compromised lung issues previously.
An actor died a couple of days ago and there was no indication he was already sick when he contracted the virus but someone on a messaged board that knew him indicated he was. Obviously anecdotal but it would be nice to have more in depth reporting on this stuff. Then we have the Tom Hanks stuff where he and his wife pretty much sailed through the virus much like getting the flu.
Bottom line is how previously compromised are the patients that are dying when they show up in hospitals.
Stay safe everyone.
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It's very complicated. At any given time in the US the majority of ICU beds are occupied, often with vented patients. However, for other conditions, either immediate post-operative cases and medically ill people, the duration of vent time is much less than the average COVID patient once placed on a ventilator. Now all of those patients that could have been cared for through an acute event to recover will have no access to that high level of support, as the ICU beds will be full and ventilators will all be in use, some supporting 2 patients when feasible. One severe COVID case on a vent for 2-3 weeks will essentially bump a few patients who could have used that resource to recover after open heart surgery, brain surgery, sepsis, heart failure or COPD exacerbation, etc. Most of the patients that succumb to COVID will have an underlying chronic illness, but for many of those patients in normal times they would have chugged along for many years in our health care system. These numbers can be painted with many different brushes, so we need to be careful as to how they are interpreted.
One thing I know for sure. If hospitals are reaching out to retirees, students, and practitioners who haven't stepped foot in a hospital in years, we are under-resourced for this expanding crisis.