All jokes aside, our respiratory health is something most people take for granted every day. Quite literally, there is a colloquial phrase that exists to motivate people to do a task so often, that it comes as naturally as breathing. However, we do not control our breathing as much as this phrase suggests. In fact, when we are not paying attention, we do not control our breathing at all. Our autonomic nervous system performs the vital functions of inspiration and expiration for us of breathing in and breathing out. Without such a system, I surely would not want to fall asleep at night! But what happens when our respiratory health declines? How do we support people’s respiration when their bodies are not able to? Our answer is ventilators.
