← Return to Will my oxygen concentrator suffice instead of a ventilator?

Discussion
Comment receiving replies
@merpreb

@naffie- Welcome to Mayo Connect. This sounds like it would be a major concern and an excellent question. I know nothing about oxygen concentrators or ventilators. I did some research and it looks like the 2 are used for different reasons. According to Wikipedia "An oxygen concentrator is a device that concentrates the oxygen from a gas supply (typically ambient air) by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched product gas stream. Two methods in common use are pressure swing adsorption and membrane gas separation." A ventilator is used to breathe for someone, regulating the intake of o2 and removing Co2. A ventilator actually breathes for you. A tube goes into your mouth so I would assume that you would continue to use your ventilator as it is on your nose. @johnbishop do you know anything about these machines?
@naffie- I hope that you are taking every precaution to avoid getting the virus- so this will only be a moot question and not a reality! Be safe.

Jump to this post


Replies to "@naffie- Welcome to Mayo Connect. This sounds like it would be a major concern and an..."

Hello Merry,
Thank you for your invaluable information. Although I had researched ventilators to some extent, I failed to realize that they actually breath for you. I will certainly expand my research.