[nexuist]

Think back to Wuhan. Imagine the hospitals have closed their doors because they are already backed up. Your grandparent is dying in the room next door because no doctor is available to treat them.

Who the hell cares if you build a ventilator and try it then? They're going to die anyways. You are doing nothing except increasing their chance of survival by acting instead of waiting.

Should you use this while hospital beds are still available? Obviously not. But any care is better than no care and being treated by a Wikipedia doctor is better than being treated by no doctor when you're already on your deathbed.

[arcticbull]

Doing something may well be worse than doing nothing.

Concrete example: you get impaled by something. Do you: (a) do absolutely nothing and leave it in, and seek help or (b) rip it out as you see in movies because doing something is better than doing nothing.

(b) will kill you and (a) will save your life.

By doing something you have no business doing, no understanding of the mechanics and consequences you may will make it worse.

If everyone in Wuhan hooked up their loved ones to leaf blowers, the death rate probably would have been massively higher.

[dsl]

Your grandparent will care quite a deal.

Do you have the tools to intubate them properly? Do you know how to get a good head tilt? Do you have anesthetic and a vasoconstrictor to administer?

Before you build a ventilator, figure out how you would shove a garden hose down someones throat past the vocal cords. I'll wait.