Every ambulance in Cleveland is now outfitted with a new tool that can help get air to residents who are struggling to breathe.

The mechanical ventilators can help a broad range of patients, from those with asthma who need help breathing on their own to unconscious patients relying completely on the machine to breathe for them. Respiratory issues are a large challenge in the city of Cleveland. In 2024, “breathing problems” was cited as the second-most common EMS call for service, according to the city’s data dashboard. 

Cleveland EMS expects the machines to improve patients’ likelihood of survival and decrease other negative health outcomes, like having to be intubated at the hospital. It comes just months after the department gave paramedics another life-saving intervention to use – the ability to provide whole blood to patients.  

Taken together, Cleveland ambulances are increasingly equipped to provide hospital-level health care in the field, said Orlando Wheeler, commissioner of the Division of Emergency Medical Service. 

“It’s a mobile intensive care unit,” Wheeler said. “It’s almost like taking the ICU out of the hospital and putting six wheels and lights and sirens [and] delivering it to people’s doorstep.” 

The ventilators are particularly important because of the high number of Cleveland residents who have respiratory issues, said Tim Sommerfelt, a leader with the Cleveland Association of Rescue Employees, the EMS union. 

“It’s really sexy and interesting to give blood, and that’s an awesome thing we’re doing,” Sommerfelt said. “But we do over 6,000 respiratory calls a year, and this is where we’re gonna have the ability to make a real difference in patient outcomes.”

The city began using the machines in mid-November. In total, they cost about $540,000, according to a spokesperson for the City of Cleveland. City Council approved the funding last fall.  

New machines help Clevelanders facing everything from heart failure to asthma

Ambulances respond to different types of respiratory emergencies. 

Some patients who need EMS are completely unable to breathe on their own and may already be relying on a ventilator at their home or in a nursing home. To get to the hospital, EMS workers have to remove them from their at-home ventilator and provide oxygen in the ambulance. 

Formerly, paramedics and emergency medical technicians had to give these patients air by hand, using a bag valve mask. For each breath, EMS staff had to estimate how much air to squeeze out of the bag. 

The new mechanical ventilator automates this process. That’s important because people need different amounts of air, depending on their height and gender. 

“If you give too much air, it can actually be detrimental to a patient,” said Rob Moyers, a sergeant in the education and training department at Cleveland EMS. “Or if you give too little air, you’re not ventilating them enough.”

Not all Clevelanders with respiratory issues need a machine to breathe for them. Many people – a lot of whom have asthma or a form of lung disease called COPD – need help catching their breath. When inhalers aren’t working, the mechanical ventilators can deliver oxygen into their lungs through a mask, with a process called BiPAP. The machine also helps them exhale. 

Within hours of deploying the machines, Cleveland EMS used them to help an asthmatic who was struggling to breathe, Moyer said. Sommerfelt said he’s already used the machines multiple times. 

“It’s turned our patients around before we even get to the hospital,” Sommerfelt said.