U.S. short on bird flu ventilators

WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- U.S. health experts say the country is short on ventilators to combat any pandemic like bird flu and there are not enough trained people to operate them.

A 400-page plan issued in November by the Bush administration called for 742,500 ventilators, machines that pump oxygen into lungs filled with mucus and phlegm, The New York Times reports.

But there are only 105,000 in the country now, 100,000 of which are used annually to combat the regular flu.

Bird flu has killed millions of birds and more than 90 people, mostly in Asia, but is feared worldwide if the deadly H5N1 strain mutates.

Dr. Irwin Redlener of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University said the ventilator shortage is a symptom of overall bad pandemic planning.

Of the $7.1 billion President Bush asked Congress for to fight an outbreak, $3.8 billion was allocated.

Most of that is dedicated to vaccines and other treatments, which the country is short of as well.

Ventilators, which typically cost $30,000, aren't on the top of the purchase list for hospitals nationwide battling troubling budgets.

Some alternatives to the mechanical ventilators may be used, but most experts say they would serve a limited purpose.