[Mahler9th]

"Right. When your emergency mask drops from the airplane cabin ceiling, you do not say "Not my brand" and refuse to put it on. "

Interesting analogy, but you are missing the point. What difference does it make if the airplane is made of string, balsa wood and cloth?

And the pilots only have previous experience flying paper airplanes?

And they were trying to fly this plane over the Himalayas?

Would you even get on that plane? Maybe yes.

Would you put your loved one on that plane? Maybe yes.

I envision that if things get that bad we'll have other much bigger issues.

ICU is a health care "setting." Populated with teams of trained people.

If that setting becomes like a wartime battlefield, there may be larger issues in play than the availability of a custom engineered and built vent.

We'll see. Well hopefully we won't.

I wonder if a simple lack of vents in Italy has contributed to their challenges... or whether the challenges are larger in scope.

Sure a vent is an important tool in ICU settings for patients with major respiratory issues.

What term did we use.... necessary but may not be sufficient.

Just like the sample collection cotton swabs in Rhode Island... there cannot be a "test" without a sample. But a test is also impossible without a way to get a sample to a lab. And no one will work (without being forced) in a lab without PPE, and so on.

I see this as a "system."