this is an angle to the swine flu story that I certainly haven't seen until today.

A local company that manufactures healthcare equipment is now preparing to supply the government with portable ventilators in case of a healthcare crisis.

Allied Healthcare Products has been in business on the Hill in St. Louis for decades, manufacturing equipment for hospitals. Their national sales manager tells me that in the last year and a half, the company has branched out into what's known as mass casualty equipment. Things that can be used in a disaster, if hospital beds run short.

Monday, Allied got a call from Health and Human Services asking how fast Allied could make more of their portable ventilators. The company is now lining up supplies to figure out just how much they could make.

It's interesting to see how this process works and how the government starts looking at ways to prepare for pandemic scenarios.

The company employs 361 people in St. Louis. They may have to hire more, but I'll keep you posted...

In the meantime, if you're intested, you can track new information on flu cases in the United States here.

You can find information from The World Health Organization here.

---