Tag: ventilators

In general, it is a machine that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Modern ventilators are computerized microprocessor-controlled machines, but patients can also be ventilated with a simple, hand-operated bag valve mask. Ventilators are chiefly used in intensive-care medicine, home care, and emergency medicine (as standalone units) and in anesthesiology (as a component of an anesthesia machine). With COVID-19, ventilators have been the subject of the response to the pandemic. Hospitals and governors have been non-stop raising the alarm about a shortage of ventilators, some critical care physicians are questioning the widespread use of the breathing machines for Covid-19 patients, saying that large numbers of patients could instead be treated with less intensive respiratory support. If these observations are right, putting coronavirus patients on ventilators could be of little benefit to many and even harmful to some. What’s driving this reassessment is a baffling observation about Covid-19: Many patients have blood oxygen levels so low they should be dead. But they’re not gasping for air, their hearts aren’t racing, and their brains show no signs of blinking off from lack of oxygen. The actual price tag for a single ventilator machine is around $35,000 - $50,000. Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York demanded that President Trump provide his state with 40,000 ventilators, no questions asked, as it was what their model is projecting that the state will be needing. Of course, that was proven to be a huge exaggeration. Currently, the state is in shortage of ventilators but the need is way offshoot, an over estimation from the figure the governor has demanded for.