The focus of the attention of the entire world remains on COVID-19 and its terrible consequences on infected patients all around the world.

We, on the other hand, are all staying at home, willing to learn if there is a way to protect ourselves and our family from the fast-spreading virus.

Since the virus can dramatically affect the lungs and lead to respiratory buildup, the medical team at Huntington Hospital uses a relatively simple procedure to eliminate mucus buildup in the lungs of their critically ill patients- they turn them on their stomachs and gravity helps them do the job.

Michael Grosso, the medical director explained:

“We think this is helpful because, in other similar lung conditions, we have found it to work in the past. Keeping patients prone opens both the airways and gets more oxygen into air sacs and improves circulation to the lungs.”

Yet, he added:

“Don’t forget that these are patients who are usually already receiving mechanical ventilation, with a breathing tube in their windpipe, and tubes that are placed into their blood vessels, and when you are turning a patient, under those circumstances, it requires several people.”

A video recently shared online shows two nurses that demonstrate to us how to pat the back of a patient infected with the virus to drain mucus from the lungs.

The two nurses suggest the “CPT” method as a way to help people with the virus, or anyone affected by a similar respiratory issue and in need to keep the airways open properly and get rid of mucus.

This method, “Chest Physiotherapy” (CPT), drains the lungs and mobilizes the airflow by expanding the lungs, strengthening the breathing muscles, and loosening and boosting the drainage of thick lung secretions.

It involves the use of gravity, to promote the fluid release, and percussion, a caretaker clapping the person inflicted around the lung area. The main nurse in the video also advises the consumption of lots of hot water and tea to help drain the lungs.

She even adds that parents can do it a few times a day even their children are well.

During the pandemic, suggestions of this kind are potential life-saving information, so make sure you watch the video and learn the technique.

Sources:
blackdoctor.org
nypost.com
www.intelligentliving.co