At the end of summer, North Carolina set a pandemic record for the number of COVID-19 patients on a ventilator. It’s a common treatment for the sickest COVID-19 patients, but many people don’t know the process of being intubated, or the long-term impacts it can have.

A ventilator supports someone’s body and helps them breathe until they're strong enough to do it themselves. Doctors say in most cases, putting a COVID-19 patient on a ventilator is a last resort.

“Intubation is essentially putting a breathing tube down so that way it attaches to the ventilator and the ventilator helps to push air and oxygen and helps to provide breathing to your lungs,” Dr. Jaspal Singh told WCNC Charlotte.

Singh is a pulmonary critical care specialist at Atrium Health. He said being intubated is a standard procedure during surgeries and being put on a ventilator is a safe and effective treatment.

Patients are sedated and given pain medication when on life support. Sometimes they can be taken off sedation. Typically, someone who is on the machine for a shorter period recovers.

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