Drug shortages mean only half of ventilators can be used
Survey of hospital pharmacists reveals there's only enough propofol to run 774 of Australia's 1639 beds
The scramble to secure more ventilators to be ready for a rush of severe COVID-19 cases in Australia may have been in vain, as there are not enough medications to run them all, a new survey suggests.
A snapshot of the availability of key ICU medications in 66 of 272 hospitals invited to take part in the survey on 17 April revealed there was only enough propofol to run 774 of the increased ventilator capacity of 1639 beds.
