National groups provide a consensus statement on the concept of placing multiple patients on a single mechanical ventilator.
“A definitive limit to the number of ventilated patients”
The problem is the lack of evidence to support a patient to therapist ratio. A study out of Johns Hopkins University published in 2013 noted “a multi-component intervention, including an increase in RT/patient ratio, improved RT orientation, and the establishment of a core staffing model was associated with increased respiratory resource utilization.”