Josh Hendrickson:

When a pandemic occurs, the demand for medical supplies such as masks and other protective equipment for healthcare workers and ventilators for patients necessarily increases. The excess masks and ventilators that the hospital has on hand before the pandemic are quickly used up. One solution would be for the government to provide subsidies to firms that make the products used in intensive care during noncrisis times, perhaps through direct purchase and storage of these goods, so that the country is prepared when faced with a possible pandemic. This solution would require the government to maintain a stock of N95 masks, isolation gowns, eye shields, disposable gloves, ventilators and ventilator supplies, oxygen masks, suction equipment, ECMO machines, dialysis machines, feeding tubes, glucometers, and urinary catheters. While the US government has attempted to embark on similar measures in the past, it has never followed through with a comprehensive plan or proper replenishment.