Short-term ventilator sharing may be viable for COVID-19 patients -study

FILE PHOTO: Ventilators of Hamilton Medical AG are seen at a plant in Domat/Ems, Switzerland March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

(Reuters) - Ventilators could be safely shared by two COVID-19 patients for up to two days, a small U.S. study found, validating an experimental method followed by hospitals struggling to handle the onslaught of lung failure cases with limited equipment.

At the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan began having selected pairs of surgery patients with healthy lungs share a ventilator. This approach freed up as many machines as possible for COVID-19 patients, but some medical experts criticized it, saying it could worsen outcomes.