Respirator vs. Ventilator

Respirator

A respirator is a device designed to protect the wearer from inhaling particulate matter, including airborne microorganisms, fumes, vapours, i.e. gases. Respirators range from relatively inexpensive single-use, disposable face masks to more robust reusable models with replaceable cartridges and are used by the military, private industry and the public.

There are two main categories: the air-purifying respirator which forces contaminated air through a filtering element, and the air-supplied respirator in which an alternate supply of fresh air is delivered. Within each category, different techniques are employed to reduce or eliminate noxious airborne contaminants.

Ventilator

A medical ventilator (or simply ventilator in context) is a mechanical ventilator, a machine designed to move breathable air into and out of the lungs, to provide breathing for a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently.

While modern ventilators are computerized machines, patients can be ventilated with a simple, hand-operated bag valve mask.

Ventilators are chiefly used in intensive care medicine, home care, and emergency medicine (as standalone units) and in anesthesia (as a component of an anesthesia machine).

Medical ventilators are sometimes colloquially called “respirators”, a term stemming from commonly used devices in the 1950s (particularly the “Bird Respirator”). However, in modern hospital and medical terminology, these machines are never referred to as respirators, and use of “respirator” in this context is now a deprecated anachronism signaling technical unfamiliarity. In the present-day medical field, the word “respirator” refers to a protective face mask.