Name: The universal anesthesia machine
Uploaded: 2012-02-02T16:28:27Z
Duration: 11 min 6 s
Description: What if you're in surgery and the power goes out? No lights, no oxygen -- and your anesthesia stops flowing. It happens constantly in hospitals throughout the world, turning routine procedures into tragedies. Erica Frenkel demos one solution: the universal anesthesia machine.

What if you're in surgery and the power goes out? No lights, no oxygen -- and your anesthesia stops flowing. It happens constantly in hospitals throughout the world, turning routine procedures into tragedies. Erica Frenkel demos one solution: the universal anesthesia machine.

The universal anesthesia machine

Millions of surgeries in low-income countries are jeopardized by anesthesia machines that require stable electricity and intensive maintenance. In some hospitals, a single power outage during an emergency C-section can turn a routine operation into a tragedy. A new, rugged anesthesia machine designed for these realities can run without electricity, costs a fraction of traditional models, and has safely powered over 2,000 surgeries in challenging settings. Designing for the world as it exists, not as we wish it were, can transform health outcomes everywhere.