Many different types of life support machines are available. Most involve machinery of some kind. One form of life support is the ventilator, which is designed to force air into the patient's lungs through a mask or nose piece. Formerly, a patient who needed a ventilator had to have a tracheotomy, which involved having a hole cut in her throat and a tube inserted directly into the lungs, which can cause serious infections. Today, noninvasive ventilators are used most often. Ventilators are used for people who have little or no control over the muscles used by the lungs. Three types of ventilators are used: hospital ventilators, home ventilators and portable transportation ventilators. Hospital versions are elaborate machines, with special monitors and integrated alarm systems that alert a medical professional if something goes wrong. Home ventilators are smaller and have no monitoring device attached, but they still ring an alarm if the patient needs help. The portable transportation ventilator has its own carrying case that can be worn on the person and is designed to be able to withstand the shocks and jolts that occur during travel.
Dialysis and Blood Transfusions
Dialysis machines remove and clean blood that is tainted with waste material in patients whose own kidneys do not function properly. This is a form of life support, since the patient requiring dialysis cannot survive without this purification of the blood that the kidneys normally perform. Dialysis is performed three times a week to keep the toxins from building up too much in the blood. Blood transfusions can also be used as life support devices when the patient's own blood is unable to clot properly, such as with hemophilia. Artificial hearts provide the blood-pumping action needed to keep a person alive until a donor heart can be found. Another cardiac life support machine is the cardiac pacemaker, which helps the heart find the correct blood-pumping rhythm.
Nasogastric Tubes
Nasogastric tubes supply nutrition to patients who are unable to eat on their own. A tube is inserted into the patient's nostril and worked down the throat and into the stomach to supply liquid food. These tubes are typically used for unconscious patients in the short term, as the tubes can aggravate the sinuses, throat and esophagus when used in the long term. Needles, attached to rubber tubing, can be inserted into a vein in order to deliver nutrients or necessary medications from a hanging bag into the patient's body. This is known as intravenous medicating or feeding.
