Last month, the story was ventilators, ventilators, ventilators.
We needed to start manufacturing tens of thousands of ventilators.
But is this correct? Do we want more ventilators?
Data shows that ventilators have a poor outcome. The vast majority of patients that go on ventilators will die. And those that come off the ventilator will have significant health problems for life, some of them actually caused by the ventilator.
Also there’s an unusual aspect to COVID. Many patients present with low oxygenation levels, that would be typically cause for alarm. But it seems like these patients can be stable even without the use of the ventilator. Its not clear whats happening there. So some patients with low oxygenation are being put on ventilators. This may be a mistake.
So the question, are doctors over-using ventilators for COVID treatment? It should be absolutely the last resort. Or possibly not a resort at all. Maybe its a better choice to take the chance that the patient will improve, rather than ever using a ventilator.
If you were in that situation, would you want a ventilator? You will be put into a coma. Your chances of survival are low. And you will be permanently injured. For myself, I would decline.