Opinion: That ‘damn machine’: the dark side of mechanical ventilators in the ICU
I walk in to Mr. W’s room to say hello. He is 73 years old and has been in the hospital for three months, ever since he was diagnosed with Covid-19 and developed pneumonia. He smiles at me when I introduce myself but can’t speak because of the tube down his trachea that delivers every breath he receives from the mechanical ventilator at his bedside.
He is no longer contagious, but he is still critically ill, stuck on the ventilator, weak and struggling to take a breath by himself. He doesn’t have the strength in his arm to wave when I say hello, but I note the twitch of movement at his wrist as he tries.
