As healthcare systems all over the world are being overwhelmed with patients and suffering with extreme shortage of supplies and protective equipment in order to curb the coronavirus pandemic, a Canadian doctor has solely managed to help future patients with an idea inspired by YouTube.
The anaesthetist at Perth and Smiths falls District Hospital in Ontario, Dr. Alain Gaithier worried that the only ventilator available in his rural hospital wouldn’t be able to take the load of possible Covid-19 patients they were bracing for.
This Ph.D in respiratory mechanics got an idea that was initially conceived in 2006 by American doctors, Greg Neyman and Charlene Babcock. It was a solution to double the capacity of a single ventilator.
CBC reported that this idea was successfully tested after the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting. Dr. Babcock then posted a how-to video on YouTube which explains how this DIY “upgrade” functions.
Ten minutes after watching the video, Gaithier was already able to double the number of patients that his hospital could ventilate, just be using extra tubing.
The system works by having two patients simultaneously connected to the same ventilator, who both have the same lung capacity. Multiple hoses are then connected to one ventilator that will run higher than its normal power.
While this solution is imperfect, Gaithier said that “if it comes to last resort, I’m prepared to use it.”
A colleague of Gauthier’s, Alan Drummond shared images on his Twitter account of the ventilator that was adjusted, jokingly calling Gaithier “an evil genius.”
He tweeted:
“So in ten minutes the evil genius who is one of our GP anesthetists (with a PhD in diaphragmatic mechanics) increased our rural hospitals ventilator capacity from one to nine!!!”
Drummond is an emergency physician at the same hospital, he gave his colleague a big hug after he completed this solution while shortly breaking their ‘social distancing protocol.’
The tweet even got the attention of billionaire tycoon Elon Musk, after he commented that it was an “interesting thread.” Musk also noted that this temporary increase in capacity could pave the way to a more effective system in ensuring that patients get the oxygen they need.
He added that “a single computer, pump & pressure accumulator would be fine for many patients, but ideally individual valves per patient to personalize care & avoid cross-flow risk.”
Apart from all the newfound fame that Gaithier is receiving, what concerns him more these days is that he belongs to a rural region where most of the 60,000 residents that the hospital serves are of an older age, with existing conditions like diabetes and chronic pulmonary disease.
He also doesn’t want to get any credit for his creation. He stressed that “a lot of work is being done by pretty much everyone.”
Much like other healthcare systems that are struggling with the amount of patients they receive on a daily basis, Gaithier and his colleagues are worried that soon, they may need to choose which patients receive a ventilator and which patients will be left to die – a heartbreaking dilemma that he is hoping on avoiding with this new system in place.
He said: “We are concerned, we’re trying to get ready as much as possible.”
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