Tesla Shipping Ventilators Worldwide

Tesla will leverage its worldwide delivery network to ship FDA-approved ventilators to hospitals in need, Chief Executive Elon Musk said Tuesday.

“We have extra FDA-approved ventilators,” Musk said in a tweet. “Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately for patients, not stored in a warehouse. Please [let] me or @tesla know.”

https://twitter.com/x/status/1245009716935188481

Hospitals are currently trying to secure ventilators to treat patients suffering from COVID-19. Cases are expected to grow significantly over the next two weeks.

Musk has already donated more than 1,200 ventilators to the city of Los Angeles and hundreds to be used in New York. Tesla is also preparing its factories in California and New York to manufacture ventilators through a partnership with Medtronic.

 

[BrokerDon]

Absolutely amazing !!!

Go Elon !!!

 

[MXLRplus]

Odd. The news says we are short tens of thousands of ventilators.

 

[Altes]

Tesla will leverage its worldwide delivery network to ship FDA-approved ventilators to hospitals in need, Chief Executive Elon Musk said Tuesday. “We have extra FDA-approved ventilators,” Musk said in a tweet. “Will ship to hospitals worldwide within Tesla delivery regions. Device & shipping cost are free. Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately...
[WPURI="https://teslamotorsclub.com/blog/2020/03/31/tesla-shipping-ventilators-worldwide/"]READ FULL ARTICLE[/WPURI]

of course! but vents are all allocated so its all publicity for elon and no action, typical. I guarantee that medical device companies have 1000 time better distribution channels and oh yeah FDA CLEARANCE to distribute products. Elon "No Clue" Musk strikes again

 

[Tam]

...Only requirement is that the vents are needed immediately...

That's not how pandemic works.

When we see it far away across the sea, we need to stock up quickly before its arrival.

Once it arrived in the US on 1/20/2020, it took 40 days later on 2/29/2020 to get 1 death.

It took only 17 days on 3/17/2020 to get to 110 deaths.

But it took only 2 days on 3/19/2020 to double that number to 209 deaths.

And it took only 3 days on 3/22/2020 to double that number to 414 deaths.

And it took only another 3 days on 3/25/2020 to double that number to 1,027 deaths.

And it took only another 3 days on 3/28/2020 to double that number to 2,220 deaths.

If this trend keeps up, the 2,000 will be doubled to 4,000 soon in days, not weeks.

The just-in-time practice works great with cars but it costs lives in a pandemic.

United States Coronavirus: 188,578 Cases and 3,890 Deaths - Worldometer

 

[Tam]

It's been only 3 days and the total death number has been almost doubled from 2,220 to 4,053 as of 3/31/2020.

United States Coronavirus: 188,592 Cases and 4,055 Deaths - Worldometer

The above requirement of not stocking ventilators in advance is consistent with the tweet 12 days ago on 3/19/2020 when the death number was 209 that was almost doubled from 110 in only 2 days:

"Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April"

 

[BigNick]

The USA should have had a stockpile of tens of thousands of ventilators by now. Government contracts were in place to produce them more than a decade ago.
The U.S. Tried to Build a New Fleet of Ventilators. The Mission Failed.

 

[vronp]

That's not how pandemic works.

When we see it far away across the sea, we need to stock up quickly before its arrival.

Once it arrived in the US on 1/20/2020, it took 40 days later on 2/29/2020 to get 1 death.

It took only 17 days on 3/17/2020 to get to 110 deaths.

But it took only 2 days on 3/19/2020 to double that number to 209 deaths.

And it took only 3 days on 3/22/2020 to double that number to 414 deaths.

And it took only another 3 days on 3/25/2020 to double that number to 1,027 deaths.

And it took only another 3 days on 3/28/2020 to double that number to 2,220 deaths.

If this trend keeps up, the 2,000 will be doubled to 4,000 soon in days, not weeks.

The just-in-time practice works great with cars but it costs lives in a pandemic.

United States Coronavirus: 188,578 Cases and 3,890 Deaths - Worldometer

I don't discount your statistics but I think you missed the point. There is not an unlimited supply of ventilators and Tesla is trying to help those hospitals with an urgent need, not hospitals gearing up in advance.

 

[Tam]

I don't discount your statistics but I think you missed the point. There is not an unlimited supply of ventilators and Tesla is trying to help those hospitals with an urgent need, not hospitals gearing up in advance.

You can see there's a plentiful of empty beds in a field hospital in New York below:

and you can also see an unused ventilator sitting at the foot of the gurney in the picture below:

But that's what pandemic is about: looking at the rate of deaths in the past and get the extra empty beds and unused equipment ready before the next number arrives at the hospitals.

Elon Musk seemed to be skeptical about the shortage by tweeting 2 weeks ago:

"We will make ventilators if there is a shortage"

 

[vronp]

Well, who do you think should get Tesla ventilators first? Hospitals that have no unused ventilators or hospitals that have unused ventilators on hand?

 

[Electric700]

Tesla and Medtronic, thank you for doing this!

 

[Tam]

Well, who do you think should get Tesla ventilators first? Hospitals that have no unused ventilators or hospitals that have unused ventilators on hand?

It's better to be pro-active in this case.

And that's why there's a dead body count to decide where the resources should go next.

In the US, New York has 1,941 deaths, then New Jersey has the next highest number at 355, then Louisiana goes third at 273...

Globally, Italy has 13,155 deaths, then Spain next at 9,053, then the third is the USA at 4,516.

All Italy, Spain, and the USA has one thing in common: All think that the risk for Covid-19 is too small as most would live and only a small percentage of the infected would die.

Italy: “We must not change our habits”...“Our economy is stronger than fear: let’s go out for an aperitivo, a coffee or to eat a pizza.”

Spain: "...Underlying reasons for the coronavirus spread before the state of alert could have been "the low level of perception among the population at large that coronavirus represented a risk", Jose Hernandez, a researcher and assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cordoba, whose specialties include social health policies..."

USA: "Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April"

Although that perception is true: Most would not die, but that's how we all get to this current dead body count!

 

[vronp]

Ok, it's obvious we're now arguing about different issues. You are stating what should have been done, and I don't disagree with that.

My statements have been specific to that tweet.

 

[Ulmo]

That's not how pandemic works.

When we see it far away across the sea, we need to stock up quickly before its arrival.

Once it arrived in the US on 1/20/2020, it took 40 days later on 2/29/2020 to get 1 death.

It took only 17 days on 3/17/2020 to get to 110 deaths.

But it took only 2 days on 3/19/2020 to double that number to 209 deaths.

And it took only 3 days on 3/22/2020 to double that number to 414 deaths.

And it took only another 3 days on 3/25/2020 to double that number to 1,027 deaths.

And it took only another 3 days on 3/28/2020 to double that number to 2,220 deaths.

If this trend keeps up, the 2,000 will be doubled to 4,000 soon in days, not weeks.

The just-in-time practice works great with cars but it costs lives in a pandemic.

United States Coronavirus: 188,578 Cases and 3,890 Deaths - Worldometer

Correct (regarding JIT vs stocking for pandemics; I didn't verify your exact numbers, but they look normal for this pandemic). That's what makes me wonder about Elon's tweet about warehousing vs. immediate need; it seems like a lie trying to illicit another lie of the sort "we need it right now to maintain stock", such as "We really do need to stock up now because this could be coming; we are this hospital with this many beds, this many ICUs, this much staff, this much Hydrochloroquine, this much Azithromycin, this much Zinc, this much masks, this much gloves, so all we need is your ventilators for the few we can't treat with the treatment soon enough to prevent replacement of iron with Covid-19 proteins in their blood cells to the point they asyfixiate. We should be ready now. For our region, we are predicting a possible peak need of ___ ventilators, and I am asking other nearby hospitals what their conditions are right now." But does any of that really matter for those that need ventilators now for any reason? They can all qualify their needs in mature ways to Elon's company, and he can change his mind and they can distribute them to their ability, regardless of whether any "storage" is involved. The only way I see this working is if someone wants to just horde them and Elon wants assurances that won't happen; something like "use this within 3 months or I'm going full-media against you."

 

[Uncle Paul]

Elon is aware that hospitals are hoarding ventilators like the rest of us are hoarding toilet paper. We are not out, but want to build a huge stockpile in case we can't get anymore down the road. This is why stores are constantly out of toilet paper and why politicians are crying for respiratiors.

Elon wants to keep his own stockpile and dole them out where the need is actual and immediate. No benefit to patients by simply moving ventilators from one warehouse to another warehouse.

Same reason $1,200 emergency checks are not going to be sent out to Billionairs.

 

[BigNick]

This is why stores are constantly out of toilet paper

I thought it was because the world was full of a-holes.

 

[SSedan]

I saw an article that said the ventilators Elon bought are for sleep apnea, not ICU ventilators. Suggested what he sent is of little use.

 

[Tam]

...FDA-approved ventilators...

I guess in this national emergency time, "ventilator" can be loosely called.

It might be consistent with the practice of calling Self Driving Hardware that was introduced in 2016 as "Self Driving" and most people prefer that means drivers don't need to drive at all.

Looking at the picture from NYC Health, these Tesla "ventilators" have not been traditionally classified as "ventilators".

One criterion for "ventilator" is a machine that can breathe for a patient who is unable to take a breath such as one under anesthesia who does not breathe or those who are too weak to breathe on their own.

To do that it delivers breaths through a tube that's inserted down the patient's airway

or a tracheostomy tube that was surgically inserted in front of a patient's neck.

Tesla "ventilators" cannot do that! It can only help those who can still take a breath and it delivers oxygen to a mask that you can see attached to the end of the tubing toward the left:

NYC Health + Hospitals
@NYCHealthSystem
Special thanks to @tesla for a donation of 40 ventilators to our team at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst #inQueens. These will be essential in the fight against the #coronavirus.

These machines are usually for sleep apnea patients who can still breathe and can wear a mask but they are not designed for those who can't breathe and have a breathing tube coming out of their airways.

They can be used on the regular hospital floors or at home and they do not require an Intensive / Critical care unit.

They are significantly cheaper (under $1,000) than a traditional ventilator (easily the price of Model 3 at $50,000) that requires an Intensive / Critical care unit.

So, these Tesla machines are very good for non-critical patients at home or on regular floors who do not need an Intensive / Critical care unit.

But when hospitals are asking for "ventilators", they don't mean these Tesla machines, they mean a life support machine that can breathe for a patient even in a coma.

Nevertheless, these are still very valuable machines, but we need to put it into the perspective that just like Tesla "Self Driving", the availability of life support machine ventilators are still not widely seen just yet.

 

[TheLocNar]

These “ventilators” are useless. Elon didn’t do his homework. Geez.

'Ventilators' donated by Elon Musk can't be used on coronavirus patients, health officials say

 

[Uncle Paul]

This is an issue that many hospitals are working through. Some of the ventilatiors need an additonal exit filter installed to assure that the virus is not circulated on exhale.

There are many types of ventilators. Some are for the more mild cases and help a patient breath easier, others add adjustable oxygen to the airway. The heaviest duty ones require a tube to be stuck (intubated) into the patients throat and do all the breathing for them.

Hospitals can use the weaker devices to keep the more healthy patients going until a stronger one can become available.

When the surge comes it will be "all hands on deck". Dr.s will use what ever is available to keep their patients alive until their own bodies can recover.

Kind of like using a space saver spare to get you home from a blowout. It is not the best tire in the world, but will get you home and buy you time until you can source and arrange a matching replacement. (know it is a bad analogy in a no spare tire Tesla, but gets the idea across.)