Building a Pandemic Ventilator

On Thursday May 29, Jeff and I gave a presentation about the Pandemic Ventilator Project to some of my friends and colleagues at work. The presentation went smoothly and was well received. We received encouragement from the attendees to continue working on the project. We had the presentation videotaped so that more people could see it. Thank you Manuel for your help and ideas in videotaping this presentation.

The presentation is about 35 minutes in length overall and is divided into 4 sections below as YouTube videos. The title of the presentation was "Building a Pandemic Ventilator”. It is an overview of what we are tying to achieve with the Pandemic Ventilator Project.



Building a Pandemic Ventilator Part 1
9:08
Presented at Grand River Hospital May 29 2008.
The purpose and origins of the Pandemic Ventilator Project and the history of home made ventilators.




Building a Pandemic Ventilator Part 2
6:42
Presented at Grand River Hospital May 29 2008.
A description of how the Pandemic Ventilator actually works.




Building a Pandemic Ventilator Part 3
9:16
Presented at Grand River Hospital May 29 2008.
Some pandemic planning ideas and the future of the Pandemic Ventilator Project.




Building a Pandemic Ventilator Part 4
9:52
Some discussion, questions and a demonstration of Jeff’s Pandemic Ventilator.

Larry Brilliant on Bird Flu

Here is a video on Bird Flu from Larry Brilliant.
It is about 55 minutes long.

Larry Brilliant is an M.D., M.P.H. board-certified in preventive medicine and public health, and a former associate professor of Epidemiology and International Health Planning at the University of Michigan. After studying religion in a Himalayan monastery, he joined WHO in 1973 as a medical officer and helped manage the WHO smallpox eradication program in South Asia. He was a staff member of the WHO Global Commission to Certify Smallpox Eradicated and served as the last WHO medical officer to visit Iran in search of hidden smallpox.
More Info on Larry
What more can I add, the name says it all.

Larry has a very balanced look at the whole issue of bird flu and pandemics. He says that Pandemics are a low probability high impact issue. The probability is low in any given year but over a longer term approaches certainty. He has a very interesting take on people who are worried about catastrophe and people who want to ignore the issue. He calls them "Chicken Little" and "Ostriches" (both birds).





Here is another article he has written.