Doctors across NYC share the harrowing reality of caring for oxygen-starved coronavirus patients as equipment runs short

SUNY Downstate Medical Center, in Brooklyn ...The ICU, which typically has 10 beds, has expanded into four additional units.
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Northwell Health System, which operates 23 hospitals in New York, was up to 3,000 COVID patients as of Friday morning, from 1,800 or so a week ago. Already, 500 are on ventilators.
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Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood, Dr. Patrick Borgen said the hospital's anticipating needing 400 ICU beds. As of Tuesday, it had 150.
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On Friday, [Cuomo] signed an executive order empowering the National Guard to take ventilators and other protective equipment from private [!] hospitals and other companies and give them to hospitals in need.
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At SUNY Downstate, Daniel said, she's intubating patients at the rate of one per hour. Amid the pandemic, she might do eight [!] in a shift, up from one or two.

plan B: CPAP, BiPAP face masks O2 + aerosol Rx delivery alt to PICC line (IV)

Now, instead of progressing quickly to ventilators, doctors at Maimonides are relying more on high-flow oxygen therapy, with the hope that by keeping patients breathing on their own ["spontaneous respiration"] and able to move, they might be able to keep their lungs functioning better.

Not only that, vent equip and intubated patients need constant surveillance and hygiene (trach suction mucus, saliva) to retard bacterial growth seeping from upper to lower respiratory tract->lungs ("Double pneumonia" as the old folks call it). so yeah, Duplicate these "trade offs" worldwide.

Story further glosses release criteria/orders, ie. self-admin of respiratory Rx, rehabilitation