The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has explained the destruction of 45 Russian mechanical ventilators (ventilators) in the United States. RIA Novosti writes about it.
The devices were scrapped because they were never used in hospitals. This was due to the improvement in the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. A source from RIA Novosti confirmed that the drugs were delivered to warehouses in the states of New York and New Jersey, where they were stored. However, after some time, the states sent ventilators back to FEMA: in the end, the machines were simply not needed.
“The donated Aventa-M ventilators in question were disposed of in accordance with the strict regulatory guidelines for the disposal of hazardous waste from the General Services Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency,” the agency's source added.
At the same time, a source in FEMA did not answer the question of whether the devices were really not used due to a malfunction and fears of fire.
Earlier, BuzzFeed wrote that the ventilators were disposed of after being stored in a warehouse for some time as spare equipment. They were allegedly not used for a number of reasons: first, the difference in voltage in the electrical networks of the United States and Russia did not allow the use of devices without special adapters that American hospitals did not have. Secondly, several ventilators of this particular model caught fire and caused fires in Russian hospitals, as a result of which six people died.
On April 1, the Russian military transport aircraft An-124 Ruslan delivered humanitarian aid to the United States. On board the aircraft were disinfectants, goggles, respirators and masks, as well as equipment. The State Department said that they paid for the deliveries from Russia in full, Moscow denied this, pointing out that half of the cargo was paid by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the same – by the American side.
