Dynamic Ventilator Reserve is a public-private effort to aid in distributing ventilators to critical areas in the fight against COVID-19. Leaders from the AHA and several hospitals and health systems made the announcement of the "Dynamic Ventilator Reserve" during a meeting at the White House.

The projected shortage of ventilators in specific geographic areas as the United States battles the pandemic is affecting regions of the country unevenly as rates for infection, hospitalization and intensive care unit utilization vary. Ventilator equipment may sit idle in some areas with lower infection rates while other areas are stretched beyond capacity.

A collaborative voluntary effort led by a group of U.S. hospitals and health systems has created an online inventory of ventilators and associated supplies, such as tubing and filters, to support the overall needs of combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals and health systems input into the database available equipment that they are able to lend to others in the country. Providers are then able to access this virtual inventory as their need for ventilators increases.

The AHA will manage the inventory with full transparency to those participating in the effort.

Hospitals and health systems are able to participate in the network at various points in time, depending on the infection rates in the regions they serve. For more information, click here.