A ventilator is a medical device that is used to support people who are having trouble breathing or are unable to do it on their own. Essentially, a mechanical ventilator helps the patient complete a full cycle of breathing, from inhaling to exhaling.
Generally, patients stay on the ventilator until they can breathe normally on their own. This means that they do not need to do any physical work themselves while recovering from whatever is affecting their lungs.
Ventilators, which are sometimes known as life-support machines, are an important medical tool. And, they have become essential in our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
When a person is breathing normally, their chest expands, creating a negative pressure in the lungs that forces air inside. Then the oxygen from the air is used up, and the carbon dioxide is exhaled out.
If someone is ill or weak and can’t expand their lungs to draw in air on their own, a mechanical ventilator is used to pump air into the lungs. It does this by creating a positive pressure that forces air to be sucked into the body.
Ventilators are generally found in intensive care units (ICUs). While a patient is put on a ventilator, doctors will monitor their heart rate and oxygen saturation levels using a pulse oximeter. They will also check respiratory rates, blood pressure, and oxygen and carbon dioxide levels among other tests.
As we have seen, a ventilator is used by doctors when a person cannot breathe adequately on their own. This can occur with a number of medical conditions that affect lung function— whether due to injury or an illness, such as:
Ventilators may also be used during surgery or while recovering from surgery.
Doctors will be able to tell how long a person needs to be on a ventilator – this can range from a few hours to a few weeks or even longer.
There are many types of ventilators with different levels of support. Doctors will choose the type based on the person’s condition.
Mechanical ventilators can be life-saving and have a lot of benefits for patients, such as:
However, it is important to remember that mechanical ventilators won’t cure an illness or completely heal a medical condition. Instead, they can keep patients alive and stabilized while doctors use other treatments to fight an infection or help them heal from an injury.
While being on a mechanical ventilator has many benefits, it also has a few risks associated with it. These might include:
Additionally, ventilation requires the patient to be prone (or lying down) at all times, and this lack of movement can lead to other issues. These things like muscle weakness, or bedsores, can take months to recover from.
Ventilators have become an essential tool in the fight against Covid-19.
While mild symptoms of Covid-19 might include a fever, cough, and sore throat, more serious cases experience difficulty breathing, or develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS can make portions of the lungs unusable, which can lead to several complications.
Thus, patients are put on a ventilator to help them breathe.
Ventilators are used to support a person’s breathing when they experience respiratory failure. They can be life-saving tools and an important part of treatment for a number of conditions, including Covid-19.
However, while they can’t treat or fix a health condition, they can take away the burden of breathing work while the patient is given treatment or is recovering.
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