Health & Fitness : Ventilators don't do anything. If you need one, you're probably going to die.

Ventilators don't do anything. If you need one, you're probably going to die.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/04/02/826105278/ventilators-are-no-panacea-for-critically-ill-covid-19-patients

Most coronavirus patients who end up on ventilators go on to die, according to several small studies from the U.S., China and Europe.
"It's very concerning to see how many patients who require ventilation do not make it out of the hospital," says Dr. Tiffany Osborn
The largest study so far to look at mortality among coronavirus patients on ventilators was done by the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre in London. It found that among 98 ventilated patients in the U.K., just 33 were discharged alive. The numbers from a study of Wuhan, China, are even grimmer. Only 3 of 22 ventilated patients survived.


Ventilators can actually cause more lung damage:

"We're not sure how much help ventilators are going to be," Osborn says. "They may help keep somebody alive in the short term. We're not sure if it's going to help keep someone alive in the long term."

Unfortunately, Osborn says, "the ventilator itself can do damage to the lung tissue based on how much pressure is required to help oxygen get processed by the lungs."

And coronavirus patients often need dangerously high levels of both pressure and oxygen because their lungs have so much inflammation.

No reason to worry about ventilator shortages. You'll be dead anyway.

Re: Ventilators don't do anything. If you need one, you're probably going to die

It might be kinder to just euthanize people instead of putting them on a ventilator because supposedly it hurts. Not a good to spend your final moments.
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