The horror, the horror. Intubation -- what it's li

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A member of the team will first administer a combination of sedatives and paralytic agents. Next, a doctor will pry the airway open wider with a speculum and slide a breathing tube down the windpipe to the lungs.

Before the ventilator is started, a small cuff around the tube is inflated to prevent particles from escaping. Once it's on, the machine gently pumps highly oxygenated air at a steady rate, simulating the lungs' natural flow.

Since patients can't eat while intubated, doctors place a temporary feeding tube through the nose or mouth and insert an IV containing electrolytes and sedatives into the neck. Technicians X-ray the area to check that both lines are in the right position, and perform a bedside ultrasound to make sure heart and lung function are good.

Normal intubation can be completed in as little as 15 minutes, Boer said. But with the added effort to prevent coronavirus exposure, it can take as long as two hours.

"Doing it all safely, getting all equipment, and getting fully gowned and gloved up takes time," he said. "Intubation itself only takes a couple minutes, once you push the medications and place the tube."

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