Betsy McCaughey, Chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths is a former lieutenant governor of New York. In a column on the 18th, she pointed out that Governor Andrew Cuomo refused to buy enough ventilators to cover a pandemic, even while he had the funds back in 2015.
A severe case of coronavirus attacks the lungs and makes it impossible to breathe without a ventilator. New York has 16,000 too few ventilators and Governor Cuomo made that call in 2015, McCaughey writes.
Instead of buying ventilators, he “asked his health commissioner, Howard Zucker to assemble a task force and draft rules for rationing the ventilators they already had.”
“That task force came up with rules that will be imposed when ventilators run short. Patients assigned a red code will have the highest access, and other patients will be assigned green, yellow or blue (the worst) depending on a “triage officer’s” decision. In truth, a death officer. Let’s not sugarcoat it. It won’t be up to your own doctor. ”
“Cuomo could have purchased the additional 16,000 needed ventilators for $36,000 apiece or a total of $576 million in 2015. It’s a lot of money but less than the $750 million he threw away on a boondoggle “Buffalo Billion” solar panel .”
“The task force claimed there was no point in buying ventilators because there’s also a shortage of doctors and nurses trained to use them. Five years ago, that problem could have been fixed, too. Even now, the National Disaster Medical System can send staff to hot spots like New York.”
“But in New York, rationing ventilators should be unnecessary. The state knew of the shortage, had the money, and should have bought the lifesaving equipment, instead of making a plan on who should live or die.’
We’re sure the MSM will be right on this.
The first part is that Cuomo, and now Hochul and Adams, lined their own pockets with federal funds. The second is that Cuomo piled up dead covid bodies covered in black plastc bags along the Brooklyn waterfront as a “warning” to those who refused to submit to the vaxx bs. Hidden by NYC local media (NY1, NYPost, NYTimes, NY Daily News) and msm.
there were no need for that many ventilators in 2015.No virus.Instead yesterday Cuomo received 1000 from China and 140 from Oregon.Cuomo is a man who is ahead to of the game.Sure,he would make a better president than sleepy Joe.He puts his state first and American needs a hero.The Fed Govt has done little to help him at all.
Cuomo for President 2020.Time for a change in Washingon from that terrible choice for a president we have now.
With all due respect, please search ‘cuomo covid-19 national guard ventilators’ and any other words you can think of such as emergency supplies in NJ warehouse. The man is incompetent and narcissistic. He will destroy our Constitution and our country is elected president.
Ventilators bought in 2015 probably would have expired by 2020 anyway
I so rarely reply to these because of the potential reaction, I am replying here because I want the record straight in case I don’t get to see my grandchildren again. There’s no way to sugar coat this for you. As one who retired from and worked in NYS Emergency Management (which agency doesn’t even exist any more), extensive pandemic planning occurred years ago as a result of the H1N1 outbreak. Stockpiles were started and hospitals and businesses were told to plan for catastrophic occurrences including pandemics. More was done during the more recent Ebola crisis but I wasn’t directly involved. It appears to me that most of those efforts have been completely forgotten and that we have started here from scratch. This opinion is not mine alone within the retired Public Health and EM community.
The failures here are multiple:
1. Hospitals forced to close and those left open reducing available beds to an absolute minimum.
2. Cost reduction programs forcing “Just in time” logistics which eliminates or greatly reduces stockpiles of necessary medical equipment, the effects of which we are seeing today. This type of logistics severely limits government, medical, and private industrial flexibility and robustness during a battle like we face today. Don’t believe it? When was the last time you saw hand sanitizer or potty paper on store shelves? Anyone unable to get a specific prescription filled?
3. Many political leaders don’t like to think about or plan for disasters. This is a natural tendency as the subject is unpleasant at best. Many will avoid spending dollars on stuff “that might be used … sometime” in favor of problems or programs they can address in the present. They are actually hoping they get through their terms without having to deal with such a disaster. Now go back and re-read what the governor did.
4. It will be impossible for the feds to put ALL of the respirators in New York State. There are other states in crisis and they will have to get a share of respirators too or the political uproar will be out of this world. And rightly so.
5. Are Republicans meaner than Democrats deciding who will get life with a respirator and who will die without? NO SANE PERSON OF ANY POLITICAL PERSUASION WANTS TO CONDEMN ANYONE TO DEATH. I will contend that people are dying and will continue to die because of four epic institutional failures NOT related to political party. First, China knew what they had and lied about it. During Chinese New Year when families travel extensively and gather like we do for Christmas. That caused the diaspora. I do not consider CHINESE leadership to be sane. Second, the federal government did not recognize the threat and did not close our borders in time to control the spread. Normal CDC containment procedures were already a lost cause. Third, State and local officials were reluctant to step on their cash cows (look at Florida spring break and Louisiana Mardi Gras) and were also late in calling quarantines. Too many have STILL not taken that necessary step. Fourth, many maroons did not pay attention when informed this is a serious threat. Read Jane and Joe Citizen.
In conclusion, when chairing a Republican caucus in my small upstate New York town I always read a list of Republican values at the beginning of the agenda to refresh some of our general beliefs. Explicitly stated is that No-one need pledge these, nor even embrace all of them. Prominent in that list is the concept of personal responsibility. My belief at this point is that regardless of political party, major blunders have been going on for years in political, public health, and private business leadership and that must be owned by those responsible, and hopefully corrected in the future. Include in this list voters and stockholders that keep these people in power.
Also, I pray for the success of those who will have to convince “The Donald” that reopening the country before Easter is a bone head idea. This is a long-haul battle in which we must stay the course or the virus numbers will jump again.
Finally I want to acknowledge the courage and dedication of all of those first responders and medical personnel fighting this battle with inadequate weapons through absolutely no fault of their own, and mourn those of them that have already lost their lives. I also want to acknowledge the efforts of corporations and smaller businesses switching to the manufacture of hand sanitizer, respirators, and the like, as well as those sewing medical masks and surgical gowns in their homes to donate to their local hospitals. THEY deserve our thanks and praise and are the actual very best of our nation.
Beautifully said, Paul Wilson. God Bless us all and keep us well. Personally, I think the idiot politicians should be forced to go to the hospitals and walk among the sick and dying so they can see first-hand the results of their greed and bad policies.
Real question. Does anybody know how this compares to the amount of ventilators other states have? For instance, Louisiana and Florida are about to get hit really hard next. Did they plan for enough ventilators? Maybe they did, I don’t know. If we believe what the president said, not a single person thought this would ever happen to this level. And if that’s true, then how do you blame Cuomo for not preparing for something no one thought would happen? Or do you admit that there were plenty of warnings to everyone in government that were ignored, including the president?
Let’s say some states dropped the ball. Does that mean that the federal government has no responsibility to also plan to save lives in a nationwide emergency and should just say too bad, because we don’t like a decision your Democratic governor made, we won’t lift a finger to help you and stop thousands of people from needlessly dying? That’s the state of morality in the US now for the party of family values, real Americans, and evangelical Christians?
Let’s say Cuomo did drop the ball and is completely to blame. Do you think that should condemn all the people living in NY state to possible death? I don’t think that the number of ventilators New York state has was a major deciding issue in the last election directly decided by the people. Do you think only Democrats live in NY and get sick and go to the hospital? Or are you ok with sacrificing loyal Republicans to a gruesome death in the name of getting back at your political enemy? Do you think the New Yorkers who put their trust in the Republican party to safeguard them and the nation are ok with their lives being sacrificed for a political point against someone they didn’t vote for?
“how do you blame Cuomo for not preparing for something no one thought would happen?”
Um, you can blame Cuomo because as governor of New York, he made a conscious decision to NOT buy 16,000 N95 respirators and instead set up a Death Panel to decide who would live and who would die. Which category do you think you and/or your love ones would land in? Which category do you think Cuomo’s family would land in?
You can blame Cuomo because New York City was attacked by islamic jihadist terrorists only 18 years ago, but policemen, firemen, emergency workers, and others are still dying from the fumes they inhaled while clearing Ground Zero, looking for whatever human remains they could find; but still this wasn’t enough for Cuomo to purchase 16,000 N95 masks and nursing supplies when he had the chance.
You can blame Cuomo because he ordered MILITARY personnel to take ‘excessive’ gowns, booties, gloves, face masks, and N95 ventilators from Upstate New York nursing homes and hospitals, and send them to New York City. My county (Dutchess) and neighboring counties marked our first COVID-19 infections on March 12, 2020. In just three weeks we are marking infection rates from 1,200+ to 3,400+ patients. No one knows how many people will be infected. We need to KEEP our supplies and equipment here, to keep US ALIVE!
Why did Cuomo’s Task Force make the decision that the people of New York City are more important to keep alive than the people of Upstate New York? Who the hell is cuomo to decide someone’s husband in NYC can live, while MY husband dies a horrible and painful death because the hospital is short of N95 respirators?
You can blame Cuomo because emergency supplies are apparently stored in a warehouse in New Jersey. WHY? A governor is tasked with preparing for the worst emergency that can happen in his/her state. A good governor buys 16,000 N95 respirators instead of spending twice the dollars on a defunct solar project. That is his job. If he can’t do that, then he/she must step down because his incompetence KILLS PEOPLE!
CUOMO HAS BLOOD ON HIS HANDS because he did not prepare New York State for a major disaster! He is narcissistic and will always sacrifice innocent lives for his own venial pride and pleasure! He is a tyrannical ruler who believes he has the political right to decide who will live and who will die. He makes decisions based on how stately he will appear before his peers and the masses, rather than what is best for ALL the people of New York. He is a maniacal dictator who lacks the ingrained values necessary to be a great leader.
And he wants to be president………………