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'At one point I was so exhausted … I was saying, if I had no children or partner then it would be easier just to be left in peace,' COVID-patient Andre Bergmann on his fight to beat the virus without a ventilator https://reut.rs/34Y00rr 1/8
From Britain to Uruguay, engineers are in a race to build ventilators. But while doctors initially packed intensive care units with intubated patients, now many are exploring other options. 2/8
. @Reuters spoke to 30 medics worldwide who have experience of dealing with COVID-19 patients. They agreed ventilators are vital and have helped save lives. But many also highlighted the risks from using the most invasive types. 3/8
Many forms of ventilation use masks to help get oxygen into patients. Doctors are concerned about putting tubes into patients’ airways to pump air in, which can damage the lungs. 4/8
In Wuhan, China, where the novel coronavirus emerged, doctors said they initially intubated patients to help them breathe, but 'the disease had changed their lungs beyond our imagination.' https://reut.rs/2xGM74R 5/8
Putting COVID-19 sufferers on ventilators as if they were standard patients with breathing problems is 'like using a Ferrari to go to the shop next door, you press on the accelerator and you smash the window,' a ventilator expert told @Reuters. 6/8
COVID-19 is teaching doctors how to handle coronavirus #happyhypoxics - people who can talk and laugh with no signs of mental cloudiness even though their oxygen might be critically low. 7/8
Read the full @SpecialReports: As virus advances, doctors rethink rush to ventilate https://reut.rs/34WVt8N by @tomescritt @silviaaloisi @gabriellaborter @kkelland @journotopia & Deena Beasley 8/8
