Please think outside the box!

Ultimately a ventilator creates an area of negative pressure for the patient's chest moves in and out. The early ones were "Iron Lungs."

The Mechanical Ventilator: (click here) Past, Present, and Future

Until the modern ones arrive in hospitals, every option needs to be assessed including the use of apnea machines for less effected patients.

Apnea machines are used in hospitals and frequently patients are asked to bring their apnea machines with them when they go to same-day surgery AND the staff uses the machine post-surgery before the patient is fully recovered from the anesthesia.


Let me make this clear, currently, apnea machines are used in the ER for lungs full of fluid for patients with chronic problems such as Congestive Heart Failure.

The PRESSURE from the apnea machine can PUSH the water aside at the level of the alveoli where oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange.

This diagram is alveoli.

The problem with COVID-19 which kills people is the pneumonia. I doubt hospitals are using this machine for pneumonia, but, for lungs not completely blanketed with pneumonia, this may help. I doubt if these machines are licensed for pneumonia and I am sure there is no research to even know if it can work, but, it might and it might save lives when other measures are not available.