Estimates of the Demand for Mechanical Ventilation in the US During an Influenza Pandemic

The authors created a spreadsheet model to explore potential demand for invasive mechanical ventilation during an influenza pandemic. They used four standardized pandemic scenarios, each with a low and high clinical severity. They found that the number of deaths prevented varied greatly by scenario and was influenced by the shape of the epidemic curve and the effectiveness of ventilation as well as the distribution of ventilators throughout the healthcare system along with trained staff and resources to support their use.