Someone Asked Why Aren’t CPAP Machines Being Used As Ventilators

I knew my sleep apnea would pay off one day.

That caller gets to vote...

Turns out...

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Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), auto-CPAP, and bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP or BPAP) machines typically used for treatment of sleep apnea (either in the home or facility setting) may be used to support patients with respiratory insufficiency provided appropriate monitoring (as available) and patient condition.

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I mean... it's a "better than nothing" sort of thing... not ideal... put... possible...

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Dyson founder creates ventilator in 10 days

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There are very smart people and there are those that call in to TV shows.

You turn on your side in the middle of the night, your mask comes off, and you die.

Well...because they are not vents.

Depends on the complexity of the machine.

Some can have a volume set, some can have a respiratory rate set, all are designed for mask or nasal cpap...not for intubated patients.

I can assure you they are being used in the effort to prevent people from having to be intubated and put on the vent. They can buy some time for a patient to improve.

I'm not wording this right, but they just were not designed for it.

One thing I suspected, that is now confirmed.... this world is full of morons.

Here's a portion of a letter I received from ResMed yesterday:

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Dear valued ResMed customer,

Amidst the rapidly evolving global situation caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we have received a number of inquiries regarding the recently released Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ventilator guidance, and wanted to provide some clarity from our perspective.

Can CPAPs be used as ventilators?
CPAP devices are designed to provide only PAP (positive airway pressure) and would require significant mechanical and software rework to function as a ventilator.

FDA guidance on March 21-22, 2020 signals to manufacturers of respiratory equipment that modifications to devices capable of providing modes of ventilatory support that may be clinically applicable for COVID-19 patients can be considered if those modifications would not create undue risk for patients. To be clear, the FDA guidance does not signal that CPAPs can be used – as is – to treat the respiratory symptoms of COVID-19. The FDA still requires those potential modifications be made in a manner that is consistent with existing safety, quality, and manufacturing standards applicable to our devices.

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I can assure you they are being used in the effort to prevent people from having to be intubated and put on the vent.

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That’s a different animal.

You can use a variety of things to help prevent not having to use a ventilator.

Because bipap and cpap aerosolize the virus, essentially making it dangerous for any provider near the patient. No one is really using these modalities (called NIPPV) in the US. But generally MDs love NIPPV. We are no longer using nebulizers for the same reason. We are using inhalers instead.

Also I replied to the wrong person