Allied Healthcare Launches First of Line of Ventilators Designed to Meet Demands of Mass Casualty Incidents
October 08 2008 - 2:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mass casualty incidents
-- such as terrorist attacks, pandemic flu outbreaks or natural
calamities like earthquakes or hurricanes -- raise the
life-and-death reality that existing medical equipment is not
adequate to provide treatment for all who need it. One of the most
critical gaps is the lack of ventilators for people requiring
respiratory support. Disaster specialists and health care
professionals know that mass casualty events could mean that: --
skilled hospital personnel would be overwhelmed by the number of
patients requiring mechanical ventilation; -- mechanical
ventilation for people with respiratory failure might have to be
provided outside acute care hospitals, including in the field with
caregivers, patients and care equipment exposed to the elements; --
electrical power may not be available, possibly for several days or
even longer. A company in Missouri -- Allied Healthcare Products,
Inc. -- has addressed these tough requirements by developing the
first ventilator designed from inception to meet the unique demands
of mass casualty incidents. "Hospital ventilators are highly
effective in the hands of skilled respiratory therapists. However,
they also are very expensive, immobile, fragile and depend on a
functioning power grid," said Earl Refsland, chief executive
officer of Allied Healthcare. "In the event of a mass casualty
event, we simply can not depend on hospital ventilators alone.
That's why Allied decided to work on this solution." With input
from the medical community, disaster specialists and first
responders, Allied designed the Mass Casualty Ventilator (MCV)100,
a life-support device that is small, light weight, rugged,
low-cost, easy to maintain and, importantly, easy to operate by
non-specialists after simple instruction. The MCV100 recently
received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
"The MCV100 is a 'force multiplier' for disasters," said Kevin
Kroupa, vice president of engineering at Allied. "It will mean that
volunteers can deliver life-saving ventilation to large numbers of
people, allowing health care professionals to use their skills to
greatest advantage." The 14-pound MCV100 costs from $2835 to $3532,
depending on functionality, versus about $30,000 for the typical
hospital ventilator that weighs about 100 pounds and is tethered to
fixed connections that make it immobile and, therefore, unavailable
for use outside a hospital. Also unlike a hospital ventilator,
Allied's MCV100 can be powered by its internal rechargeable battery
or ordinary electric power. The battery runs the ventilator for 21
hours if compressed oxygen is used. If compressed oxygen is not
available, the battery will power the unit for seven hours.
Auxiliary battery packs will be made available that will deliver 42
hours of run time when operated with compressed oxygen and 14 hours
without compressed oxygen. Batteries recharge in five and 10 hours,
respectively, for the internal battery and auxiliary pack. "Allied
will introduce another MCV ventilator in about two months that can
run exclusively on compressed oxygen or air if that is the only
power source available or be powered by AC current or internal
battery," said Jack Dabrowski, Allied product manager for emergency
products. The MCV100 offers tidal volume (the amount of air
breathed in and out) settings of 200 to 1200 milliliters and eight
to 20 breaths per minute, oxygen mixing capability, breath-assist
function for spontaneous breathing, full array of audible and
visual safety alarms and a rechargeable battery with a three-year
shelf life, Dabrowski said. The MCV100 meets all requirements in
the American Association for Respiratory Care's "Guidelines for
Acquisition of Ventilators to Meet Demands for Pandemic Flu and
Mass Casualty Incidents" report of May 25, 2006. About Allied
Healthcare Products, Inc. Allied Healthcare Products, Inc.
(NASDAQ:AHPI) manufactures a variety of respiratory products used
in the healthcare industry in a range of hospital and alternate
care site settings including sub-acute care facilities, home
healthcare and emergency medical care. The Company's product lines
include respiratory care products, medical gas equipment and
emergency medical products. Its products are marketed to hospitals,
hospital equipment dealers, hospital construction contractors, home
healthcare dealers and emergency medical products dealers.
DATASOURCE: Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. CONTACT: Arthur
Hoffman of Allied Healthcare Products, Inc., +1-314-531-8888 Web
site: http://www.alliedhpi.com/
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