A Connecticut doctor has proposed a new way to deal with ventilator shortages.

Doctor Saud Anwar said, by using a four-piece splitter, which is made with a 3-D printer, a single ventilator can serve up to seven patients suffering from respiratory issues due to COVID-19.

Anwar has been working around the clock on the front lines with other doctors and respiratory therapists.

He said Manchester Memorial Hospital and other hospitals across the country are overwhelmed with patients.

Many are dealing with a shortage of not only N95 masks, but ventilators as well.

“We don’t have enough ventilators; my thought is that we can expand our capacity to make our ventilators work harder and then be able to save more lives.”

According to Anwar, the four-piece splitter has been used in the most severe cases, like the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.

“The doctor over there was smart enough,” Anwar said, “He was actually able to coordinate things and then put as many people on a ventilator to save as many lives as he could and buy time.”

Anwar is also a Connecticut state senator serving East Windsor, South Windsor, East Hartford and Ellington.

He said he’s talked with his colleagues about the possibility of using the device in the coming weeks.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo approved a similar device that allows at least two people to share one ventilator.

If and when the time comes, Anwar hopes his colleagues in the state senate will approve the concept.

“Before we get to the point of the surge, I’m hoping our state, our governor is going to make a call of a similar capacity to say it is okay go ahead and save as many people as you can…This is not the standard of care, but then the other option is to let people die, and as a physician, I can’t accept that, and I am trying to fight that.”

( Source: WTNH )