I want to clear up a medical misconception that I have heard several people express about mechanical ventilation: many people believe that if they go on a ventilator, that will make them more likely to die.
This is not true.
What is true is that if you are sick enough to require a ventilator, you are more likely to die than someone who is not sick enough to require a ventilator.
What is also true is that doctors will never put you, or anyone, on a ventilator if they think that would make you more likely to die. Quite the contrary: if a doctor recommends going on a ventilator, it is because their assessment is that you will be less likely to die if they have a machine keep you alive for awhile so that your underlying problem can get fixed.
It is true that early in the COVID-19 pandemic, mechanical ventilators were over-utilized. The standards of care have changed as we have learned more about the disease we are treating. It does not follow that ventilators are or were killing people. The net effect of ventilators has always been that they have saved lives. The whole point of a ventilator is to keep someone alive. It is a life support device, after all.
Do not fear the ventilator.