I'm sure if someone is a respiratory therapist her

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I'm sure if someone is a respiratory therapist here they could elaborate on the pitfalls of self extubation if anyone is interested.

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I'm not a respiratory therapist but a Nurse Anesthetist; pulmonary function and ventilators are my specialty.

Patients often self extubate for three reasons:
1. They are confused and have the instinct to remove whatever is in their mouth.
2. They are awake and strong enough to think "If you're not taking this thing out, I am!"
3. Accidental extubation by pressure on the ventilator tubing.

The pitfall to any of the above is even though a patient can or wants the tube removed they might not have the respiratory capacity or strength to breath on their own. They can tire, grow weak, and require intubation again. Or their lungs just have no healed enough to exchange oxygen into their blood efficiently enough.

My belief based upon the information that Dr. Petterson has provided is the patient fell into category 2. They healed quickly, were waking up, and had the strength to remove to the tube. It's a positive sign that they are healing and gaining strength.