[Spktyr]

Those can only be used a short time per person and do not offer automatic unattended usage. You literally have to have at least a 1:1 staff:patient ratio to use them, and that only for a short time.

[monkeyshine]

I am sure that it would be fairly easy to get some air, gas or electric piston parts that simply presses that compression bag on a fixed cycle. You wouldn’t need 1:1 personnel but you would need someone keeping an eye to make sure they were functioning continually.

[eclectic]

With millions newly unemployed this should not be a problem.

[Species8472]

I can train a housekeeper to sit and squeeze the bag every 5 seconds

[21twelve]

I was looking up on if it was possible to build a homemade mechanical ventilator. You can - but it is beyond me.

But I did come across some family in China (a few years ago) that had been using a hand operated one like this for something like 2 months(?) or was it years to keep their young son alive! Everybody in the family taking turns.

The article was about how somebody finally donated them a real ventilator.

[JimRed]

You literally have to have at least a 1:1 staff:patient ratio to use them, and that only for a short time.

Or a patient with sufficient strength and awareness to squeeze his own. While awake, of course.