Musk's Tesla Ventilators Not ICU-Worthy, Health Officials Warn

Tesla billionaire Elon Mush announced he had 1,000 "FDA-approved ventilators," donating 40 of them to New York City's hospital system amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

But the problem is the devices are not ICU-quality and health officials are warning against them on COVID-19 patients because they might spread the virus, according to a report by The Week. 

The ventilators, 5-year-old "bi-level, non-invasive ventilators," are not powerful enough to handle ICU patients, because they are intended for patients with sleep apnea to help them breathe while they sleep at night, per the report.

The BiPAP machines are made by ResMed, according to a hospital photo of the ventilators.

The Los Angeles Times' Russ Mitchell tweeted:

"I've research the subject, including talks with two physicians with ventilator experience. They asked not to be named, in one case because 'I don't want to antagonize Elon Musk.'"

Adding in an ensuing tweet:

"Although sometimes though not usually referred to as 'ventilators' even by professionals, BiPap devices are not the high-end highly desired invasive ventilators that hospitals so desperately need. (GM and Ford have partnered up with ventillator makers to manufacture these.)"

ResMed does make invasive ventilators fit for ICUs, but they require lithium ion batteries, which Tesla can produce, per the report.

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