Society's supply lines are fragile

 

COVID-19 made us all aware of the fragile nature of many of the supply lines serving our communities. It may not have come as a surprise when masks got hard to find in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But who would have thought the demand for finger pulse oximetres would soar and the availability in neighbourhood pharmacies completely grind to a halt.

According to a recent article in The New York Times:

Many people first learned about a pulse oximetre in the early days of the pandemic, after doctors warned that some patients with Covid-19 develop a form of oxygen deprivation called “silent hypoxia,” which occurs when blood oxygen levels drop so slowly that a patient doesn’t notice anything is wrong. Often these patients are so ill by the time they get to the hospital that they need to be put on a ventilator.

An item for which there was limited demand prior to the pandemic was in suddenly a must have piece of medical equipment. As an aging senior living with heart failure, I went from pharmacy to pharmacy in search of an unit. None was to be found.

In the end, I called a Quebec of pulse oximetres. The French lady who answered the phone told me my chances of getting a pulse oximetre from her company was very low. The company had hundred of orders from doctors and health clinics desperate for as many units as they could supply. 

She asked why I thought I needed one. After hearing my list of health issues, she said the units were back ordered from the manufacturer but she'd send me one as soon as possible. I had jumped to the front of the list. 

She was good to her word and within weeks I had one. For a man with a failing heart, having the little unit has been very reassuring. And yet, I was left with the feeling that many of the goods on our stores' shelves could disappear at any time. 

We no longer make what we use but have it shipped, just-in-time, from far away factories, often in China. Our distributors are just that, distributors. Trade is good. No argument there. But can we have too much of a good thing. Have we left ourselves exposed to future supply problems?