One of the major "projects" I had during the pandemic was helping hospitals increase the performance of their med gas systems, especially the oxygen systems. I won't get into the details but these systems all around the world were not designed for a pandemic like what we had. Their capacities weren't designed for all the flow required with the amount of ventilator and nasal canula use we saw in these facilities. Recently was speaking with a colleague in the industry who has knowledge of the system where my father died in an ICU. Come to find out that the system there was woefully incapable. I knew earlier that all around the world patients were passing away due to insufficient oxygen. Only in an incident in England did the media openly report this in the way that one could draw a conclusion.

After this recent conversation it hit me. I've heard many, many times that this combination of ventilator and remdesivir was a death sentence. I knew the record of remdesivir was horrible. But, now I really think that the failure of all these insufficient systems was a major contributor. You know...as a society we can't learn anything if we're not honest with each other, honest in the news media. I've been wanting to mention this to my dad's widow, but it's probably better to not.

Anyway, I wanted to share this here. I remember the mad scramble in my office when oxygen levels in hospital systems were running very low, and when the evaporators were freezing from the heavy O2 flows. It was a dark time. Now...Every morning my wife shares the news of the latest friend fighting cancer or other ailment (this morning one friend is awaiting her test for a neurological disorder). People are dropping like flies now. What an f'n mess...