And Texas Caves In
The last bastion of sanity has jumped on the "stay at home" bandwagon. They just sent me an email that they have closed all state parks to save the 1% who may die from the dreaded super virus. Texas...
Forum Discussion
As I understand it, the concern about high flow O2 delivery isn't because it's risky for the patient, it's because it's risky for the providers. When a patient is placed on a vent, the O2 delivery is part of a closed loop system so the patient's exhaled breaths aren't returned to the surrounding environment. Less aggressive forms of high flow O2 delivery are open loop systems, not only returning the patient's exhaled breaths to the surrounding environment but also potentially aerosolizing the virus, making it very dangerous for providers.
According to this article, quickly placing Covid 19 patients who are deteriorating on vents has been SOP for providing high flow O2 in a manner that's safe for providers but they're re-thinking this since Covid 19 patients have been doing so poorly on vents. The article does also say in the last paragraph that it's possible the lungs are being damaged by higher pressure O2 delivery.
I guess it proves that they still have a lot to learn.
According to this article, quickly placing Covid 19 patients who are deteriorating on vents has been SOP for providing high flow O2 in a manner that's safe for providers but they're re-thinking this since Covid 19 patients have been doing so poorly on vents. The article does also say in the last paragraph that it's possible the lungs are being damaged by higher pressure O2 delivery.
I guess it proves that they still have a lot to learn.
