The nation's hospitals, facing dire shortages of lifesaving ventilators as the coronavirus outbreak continues, are finding help from an unlikely source: animal doctors.
10 min readAmerican hospitals are increasingly concerned that there aren’t enough breathing machines that are critical to saving COVID-19 patients.outbreak continues, are finding help from an unlikely source: animal doctors.
The country's largest veterinary schools, animal hospitals and even zoos are offering up ventilators to hospitals that are scrambling to care for a growing number of critically ill coronavirus patients. Similar efforts elsewhere could produce hundreds of machines and save countless lives. "Every single one of these ventilators makes a difference," Dr. Andrew T. Maccabe, chief executive officer of the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, told ABC News. Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis. Ventilators used on animals are identical to machines at hospitals, according to several animal doctors and hospital officials who spoke to ABC News. Dogs and cats with pneumonia and other respiratory issues, not unlike their human counter parts, benefit immensely from the breathing machines, which quickly can be repurposed. A dog undergoes a medical procedure at Cornell University's animal hospital. The school has loaned several spare ventilators to New York hospitals battling the coronavirus outbreak. A dog undergoes a medical procedure at Cornell University's animal hospital. The school has loaned several spare ventilators to New York hospitals battling the coronavirus outbreak."It's actually the same equipment that we use here," Leslie Lussier, director of Respiratory Care and the Pulmonary Function Lab at Tufts Medical Center, told ABC News.The Boston-area hospital received three ventilators – the same models used by respiratory therapists at their facility -- from the veterinary school at Tufts University on Monday, and had them inspected, cleaned and outfitted with new equipment for human patients within several hours.The mechanical breathing machines, used by patients unable to breathe on their own, are among the most crucial tools available to doctors in the fight against severe cases of COVID-19, for which there is no vaccine.. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose state has become the center of the epidemic in the U.S., urged the federal government on Tuesday to provide more respirators from a national stockpile to help the state meet its projected need of 30,000 in the coming weeks. An orangutan is hooked up to a ventilator for procedures at the Phoenix Zoo. The zoo is prepared to loan its breathing machine any local hospital in need during the coronavirus outbreak. An orangutan is hooked up to a ventilator for procedures at the Phoenix Zoo. The zoo is prepared to loan its breathing machine any local hospital in need during the coronavirus outbreak.While manufacturers have pledged to produce more machines, and American auto companies are exploring how to help with ventilator production, supplies still trail demand. "This is a critical and desperate need for ventilators," Cuomo, who said New York had 3,000 to 4,000 and had ordered an additional 7,000, said at a news conference.
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