2020 Shared Ventilation?

The COVID-19 global pandemic has strained critical care resources around the world, resulting in a shortage of life-sustaining equipment including ventilators. The shortage or potential shortage of ventilators has resulted in clinicians considering using one ventilator for two critically ill patients by modifying the ventilator circuit. Commonly  described as  ‘shared ventilation’, this technique is not a plumbing problem but rather a physiologic predicament.  Multiple bench models have revealed the complexities of supporting multiple patients with a single ventilator. Matching patients for lung mechanics and additional individual monitoring are the minimum requirements for attempting shared ventilation.  This collection of papers from Respiratory Care addresses the challenges of ventilating multiple patients with a single ventilator. Clinicians considering this strategy should review this collection.