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Comment by NohatCoder | Hacker News Reader

Very short guide: Put a mouthpiece on the patient, connect the mouthpiece to the tube from the ventilator, turn the ventilator on.

Longer guide: Read the manual for the specific ventilator and have fun adjusting air mixture, pump frequency, pressure, volume and other stuff. Choose one of several different models of mouthpiece, with or without tubes, depending on patient needs. Learn about different failure modes and associated alarms. Learn how to operate the pump manually in case of electronics failure. Learn how to properly clean the machine.

It isn't nothing, there are some things you can do wrong if you don't know what you are doing. But a trained medical professional should get up to speed with a crash course.

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The type of ventillators required by the most serious cases are much more complicated: as I understand it, it involves push a tube down to the lungs, and the machine breathing instead of the patient, i.e. it has to carefully monitor and regulate the pressure etc. Already the "push tube down to the lungs" part is quite a challenge: avoiding damage to the vocal cords, or to the lungs, etc.

Should we then not be damn sure that there are shitloads of the simpler ventilators so that the complicated ones can be fully reserved for the serious cases?

In the hospital they’re all complicated cases. The simpler vents are for home care use. The hospital doesn’t typically do noninvasive ventilation because it’s meant for patients who are awake and outside of a hospital setting.

Tubes down the lungs is definitely a bit tricky, not all patients will require that model though. As for careful monitoring, that is something the machine does on its own, as long as it has been configured correctly for the individual patient.

This is incorrect on many levels. A ventilator always requires intubation. Sometimes that's through the mouth, sometimes through the nasal passage (both cases are referred to as endotracheal), and rarely through a tracheostomy. Ventilators do have some monitoring capability, but require consistent attention from respiratory therapists. The chances of infection (VAP), pneumothorax etc are serious without careful monitoring by a trained, experienced medical professional. These aren't plug and play devices.

Some patients might need supplementary oxygen delivered through a canula, or through a mask, but that's nothing like the procedure used for a vent.

A ventilator always requires intubation

Can you elaborate? This ventilator documentation[0] says for invasive and noninvasive ventilation

[0] https://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/product/HCNOCTN98/res...

Many vents can also operate in BiPAP or CPAP modes or as pure demand O2 supplies for people who can still breathe. That can be done with a mask.

When treating bilateral interstitial pneumonia, you're almost always intubating. Patients presenting BIP require higher oxygenation than a CPAP style mask can provide. Using a limited availability ventilator with just a mask is a waste at this time.

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