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Caitanya Chandra Das (BDDS): This is some research I was doing about alternatives to the use of ventilators in Covid-19 cases. As many devotees are terrified on the possibility of dying unconscious on a ventilator, sometimes to the point of refusing any treatment, I believe this information may be relevant:
Much has been discussed about devotees that develop serious cases of Covid-19 being put into ventilators, a very invasive and dangerous intervention. Ventilators have very serious and lasting side effects. The chances of surviving after being put on a ventilator are not very high, 50% at best, and even if you survive, it’s practically sure that you will have to live with serious long-term damage to the body.
The worst problem with ventilators however is the fact that it is so uncomfortable that a person has to remain sedated for the whole time he is on the ventilator. This means that if you are put on a ventilator and you die, you will die unconscious, which is a very inauspicious death. If we are unconscious at the time of death, how are we going to be able to meditate on Krsna? With the exception of exalted personalities, that can remain Krsna Conscious even in an unconscious state, to leave one’s body while connected to a ventilator means another birth, possibly not in the best conditions.
In most moderate and severe cases of Covid-19, patients show very low levels of oxygen in the blood when tested (hypoxaemia). Even in cases where there is no negative effects to the lungs and the patient can breathe normally, it’s not uncommon to see people with levels as low as 70%.
Normally, a person’s oxygen saturation (SpO2) is around 94-96 percent and becomes a cause for concern when it starts dropping below 92 percent. So, 70% is considered extremely low (this explains why tiredness and neurological dysfunctions are common symptoms of covid). When they see cases like that, doctors panic and want to immediately put the person on a ventilator.
Being such an invasive intervention, the ventilator causes severe damage to the lungs and other organs, but still, studies show that they provide just marginal improvements for the oxygen saturation in the blood.
New studies are showing that the low oxygen levels are actually caused by blood clots, that form all over the body, clogging arteries and veins. This reduces the blood circulation and causes hypoxaemia. In other words, in most cases, it’s not a breathing problem, but a circulatory problem. A respirator helps one to breath (which may be necessary in the most severe cases, where the lungs are compromised), but it doesn’t do anything to improve the circulation.
New research is being done in the line of using anticoagulant drugs like heparin to prevent and reduce the blood clots. Results have shown that these drugs are a very effective treatment in most Covid-19 cases, leading to much better outcomes and greatly reducing the necessity of using ventilators.
If you see yourself in a hospital, with the doctors cogitating the possibility of putting you in a ventilator because you have low oxygen saturation, talk with them about the use of anticoagulants and other treatments to reduce the blood cloths.
But what to do if one comes to the point he or she can’t breath and may die without mechanical assistance? There is one option called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, it’s based on the use of an especial helmet that gives pressurized oxygen to the patient. It’s not as effective as a ventilator, but it’s far more effective than a simple oxygen mask, and you remain fully conscious. It’s being pointed as an effective
(and inexpensive) option for Covid-19 and is already being used in many hospitals.