In general it's true that being on a ventilator for two weeks carries a high mortality, but that's largely due to being sick enough to require ventilation for that duration. Presumably without effective oxygenation or airway protection, these people would have died before the two week mark. COVID pneumonia presents a special case. Early on the thinking was that noninvasive ventilation with bipap etc would promote spread of the virus, so the recommendation was to proceed earlier to intubation. In retrospect this did appear to lead to higher mortality, likely related to ventilator associated pneumonia and sedation and paralytic drugs. So we've returned to a more ordinary stance where intubation is a last resort. So, intubation is bad, but for most circumstances, it beats a trip to the morgue.
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