New research has shown how ventilators could be adapted to help two patients simultaneously in the event of a shortage.

As the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic approached, governments feared there might not be enough ventilators – machines that ‘breathe’ for patients when they cannot do so themselves – to help all those who needed one.

Now, researchers from King’s College London and Imperial College London have developed a theoretical model for how one ventilator could be used to treat two patients. They say that, although splitting ventilators can be inherently dangerous, their model shows how some of the issues can be mitigated by using variable resistances and one-way valves.

“A simulated single ventilator/dual patient ventilation strategy for acute respiratory distress syndrome during the COVID-19 pandemic” by Solís-Lemus et al. Published 24 August 2020 in Royal Society Open Science.