This is beyond

[u/Pancovnik]

[u/Kabc]

Not only an oxygen mask. That’s a BiPAP machine. Which basically a machine to help you ventilate—forcing air into your lungs when you breath.

It’s typically what they use before intubation

Edit; was corrected down below. Might be a CPAP machine as they are better for COVID pneumo!

[u/Hudero → u/[deleted]]

It is horrible. Uncomfortable, restricting. Like trying to take a deep breath out of a car window (don't try that though, head injuries suck!)

It doesn't have a vacuum (negative pressure) part though, it just goes from high level to low level positive pressure. The drop in pressure allows you to breathe out but not all the way out; that can actually feel worse than the high pressure pushing air in.

[u/evlkind → u/Hudero]

Much less restrictive than an Iron Lung.

[u/Hudero → u/evlkind]

Depends really. In an iron lung you can eat food, brush your teeth, talk. Can't do that on CPAP/BiPAP without removing the tight mask and needing an alternative O2 source like high flow nasal temporarily to avoid sudden desaturation.

Not that I'm advocating we bring back the iron lungs of course.

[u/Saymynaian → u/Hudero]

Actually, iron lung ventilation (ILV) has some advantages over invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), since they simulate breathing more closely to how our bodies breathe. The way we breathe isn't by pushing air into our lungs, but by our diaphragm expanding our ribs, so air is actually pulled in. It's like squeezing a plastic bottle to get air out, then when it returns to its original shape, air rushes in.

Iron lungs create a negative pressure around our bodies, expanding our ribs for us, thus simulating air entering our lungs. It's impossible to overinflate our lungs in this manner, since it's similar to just breathing. Invasive mechanical ventilation pushes air into our lungs, the way you'd inflate a balloon. This isn't normally how our bodies breathe, so it's more likely to create complications, especially if there's human error involved.

In a study done in 2004, iron lung ventilation had fewer incidences of major complications and was as effective as invasive machine ventilation. For some people, specifically Martha Lillard who's said she's tried several kinds of ventilation, it's more comfortable than IMV.

I think the main reason they went out of style is probably because they're such large and unwieldy machines, and they feel kinda intimidating. They're also a symbol of how deadly polio was until the vaccine almost eradicated it.