Just out of curiosity, I did a search, and came across this page. It’s not obvious what its vintage is, but it’s likely easier to build one now, electronically. Seems like it wouldn’t take that long to set up some production lines. We could even make it an export.
[Update a while later]
There’s a Slack channel for the project.
I wonder if a CPAP machine will help those effected with their breathing ?
I know mine helps when I have a regular cold/flu…
Unless I’m misunderstanding the concept, wouldn’t a simpler way to create a ventilator be to simply make a bellows?
Use any source for a drive-shaft, preferably slow moving (a small water-wheel would be ideal). Gear it down as needed – use pulleys, fulcrums, adapt as needed to torque and RPM. Use it to drive a bellows via a cam at the appropriate rate (breaths per minute). Use or make a flapper valve to prevent overpressure. No electronics, no pressurized air source, needed, and even more of a supplies-at-hand emergency option.
And I forgot the glaringly obvious; you’d need to use or build a bellows akin to a metalworker’s one (such as the early blast furnaces used), to avoid returning air to the bellows from the patient. A simple one-way flapper valve would do. Easy to make. Or, use a Studor type sewer vent valve.
In the unlikely event any of these improvised devices are used, the class action suits will be hilarious.