Two patients on one ventilator?

In Europe it was not a long discussion: 2 patients on a ventilator is not a wise medical decision.
But now America has found a solution to the shortage of ventilators, they say.
Two patients on one ventilator.

Like they haven't seen why it's medical unwished for.

The lungs of people are different.
They have a different size, transport a different amount of oxygen to the blood, and have a different pressure. Not only of air, but also of blood. So a different bloodpressure to the lungs.

When you ventilate too much or with too much pressure the heart will be damaged. When you ventilate too little it doesn't work.

That's why the people who have to decide this in the OR have their own studies and their own name: clinical perfusionists.

Putting two people on one machine means you have to search for two people with the same needs. That's almost impossible.

And you can't say I put one with a bit more need together with a person with a lesser need, accepting a bit less treatment and a bit overtreatment, because the need for good ventilation changes fast in one person. Due to the level of inflammation, the moisture of tissues and a lot more.

It's like having two balloons which are different.

Everyone knows that the long balloon needs a different pressure and a different way to fill it than the round one. And some balloons that looks the same are different after all: one inflates in a moment and the other needs a real struggle.

You can't do that with one ventilator,  you need far more.

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