Canadian Doctor Turns One Ventilator Into Nine With Some DIY Mechanics

A Canadian doctor has rigged up a ventilator with do-it-yourself mechanics to treat nine patients instead of one – and it’s quite genius!

Dr. Alain Gauthier is an anesthetist at the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital in Ontario and he holds a PhD in respiratory mechanics.

Dr. Alain Gauthier

According to CBC News, Dr. Gauthier got the idea after watching YouTube videos created by two Detroit doctors back in 2006.

With health experts warning that several countries – including the United States – do not have enough ventilators for a worst-case scenario situation regarding the COVID-19 virus, doctors have been trying to figure out how to make their medical equipment work for multiple patients.

Canadian Press reports that to perform the task, patients have to be paired who have similar lung size and capacity. Then, multiple hoses are attached to the one ventilator so it is running at several times its normal power.

Dr Gauthier said he worries that his hospital may not be able to provide the number of ventilators that the population needs. At one point, they may have no other option that to utilize this technique.

This same technique was used to treat patients in Las Vegas after a mass shooting took place and there were not enough ventilators to service those who needed one.