One lady in particular 65 year old decently healthy with mild HTN satting like 91-93% on RA, speaking full sentences, even holds ambulatory pulse ox. I’m like toying with does she even need to come in or not, but we put her in on 2L

Next day, on 4L, next day 6L, next day on oximyzer 10L, RR 30s, all day. Now tubed. I’ll bet she dies.

Anyways, I agree about the slow and steady death. But i dunno what else we coulda done for a lady like that....higher O2 earlier? Keep holding off the vent? I mean once they’re breathing at 36 all die hard to do it. We never intubated our “happy hypoxia” at our facility, but it seems like after a few days upstairs they all ended up there anyway. I dunno if they vents are causing the deaths or if the lungs are just shot by the time most of them get tubed. Anyways, it’s nuts.