
Musk says he sent ventilators to CA hospitals, they say they got something else - onetimemanytime
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/17/tech/elon-musk-ventilators-california/index.html
======
nabla9
This post will be soon flagged and deleted like anything that where Musk
screws up, but holy hell.

By any means use any opportunity to hype up your charity if you do it for PR,
but at least don't mislead this badly.

Why the need to lie when doing charity?

------
gscott
It turns out that BiPap machines that he sent are now being recommended more
since ventilators are not producing good results for many coronavirus
sufferers.

~~~
nabla9
BiPap is not ventilator alternative. They are completely different type
devices.

You never put anyone into ventilator until they absolutely need it. At some
point oxygen or air is not helping because removing carbon dioxide becomes an
issue.

Being in ventilator is super unconformable and gruesome. Catheter
(endotracheal tube) is inserted into windpipe. Patients are sedated. In the
case of covid-19 they are usually placed on their stomach and lay there with
the help of opioids+anesthetic drugs.

------
DanBC
I get really confused by the Musk ventilator thing.

He asked hospitals what they wanted, they gave him a list, he bought what was
on the list and donated it.

People who aren't healthcare professionals look at those machines and say
"aha, but they're not ventilators, they're bipap machines, Musk is an evil
idiot".

But bipap is a type of ventilator. Here's John Hopkins:
[https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-
and-t...](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-
therapies/bipap)

> Some medical problems can make it hard for you to breathe. In these cases,
> you might benefit from bilevel positive airway pressure. It is commonly
> known as “BiPap” or “BPap.” It is a type of ventilator—a device that helps
> with breathing.

~~~
nabla9
> He asked hospitals what they wanted, they gave him a list, he bought what
> was on the list and donated it.

Can you comment on the "Musk says he sent ventilators to CA hospitals" part?

~~~
DanBC
Musk isn't a healthcare professional and he doesn't know the language.

He asks hospitals if they want ventilators, and they give him a list of
machines to buy. He buys those. He doesn't know the difference between a
ventilator and BiPAP machine. He does know they're both used for ventilation,
and he mistakenly calls them both ventilators.

~~~
nabla9
Tesla factories are making real ventilators as we speak. He should at least
have cursory knowledge of the terminology.

~~~
DanBC
[https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-
and-t...](https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-
therapies/bipap)

> Some medical problems can make it hard for you to breathe. In these cases,
> you might benefit from bilevel positive airway pressure. It is commonly
> known as “BiPap” or “BPap.” It is a type of ventilator—a device that helps
> with breathing

We talk about the problems of jargon and people think that's the unexpanded
acronyms or the complex Latin. But these uses of jargon are obvious and
clearly visible. If you use the word agranulocytosis I know that I don't know
what you mean and I ask you and we have a conversation and I learn something.
The wicked jargon is the normal English word to which we apply a very specific
meaning.

Here's a machine. We use it to provide mechanical ventilation. Those patients
are receiving ventilation. The machine is a class of ventilator. Don't ever
call it a ventilator though, because it's a BiPap machine.

Maybe Musk should be a bit more humble. It'd help his corporate comms if he
just came out and said "I don't know what a vent is, but I asked hospitals
what they wanted and I bought the machines they asked for".

~~~
onetimemanytime
OK, so Musk the genius in all, knew that ventilators do harm so he sent these
other machines in his own initiative? :)

He should learn to shut the f up, he shouldn't feel the need to jump in
everything and try to suck all the air out. He has saved people from caves,
solved the traffic in LA, now help beat the CoronaVirus etc etc. 1000
ventilators cost, max $25-$50 Million. He should have bought them. And yeah I
think he has enough connections to get them from China.

~~~
DanBC
I hate Musk, but this...

> so Musk the genius in all, knew that ventilators do harm so he sent these
> other machines in his own initiative

...isn't the claim being made.

He says that he asked hospitals a list of machines to buy, and then he went
and bought them. He says he bought what they asked him to buy.

