The price is one thing, but after ICU you need to train to breath again, it takes a very long rehabilitation time.

It is a very invasive method of keeping someone alive and is only used in emergencies. Rehabilitation also binds resources.

Ventilator weaning is a long process

At this age, you don't get admitted to an ICU bed

No, you do, because no matter the age, the family members still want to have a chance of survival of their loved one. My distant relative (70 year old) was in ICU for 30 days, and on ventilator for 14 days. Yes, that is a very long time for ventilator usage, and every day more on a ventilator increases the death rate probability percentage.

At the age of 90, your lungs are too fragile to be put on a ventilator. It was one of the reasons academics overestimated the number of ventilators required for COVID.

This isn't a hard-set rule, just an extra factor in triage

Edit: Do you work at the JR by any chance? Asking as another Oxford Male based nearby!

https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/60/1/129/...

its really not that simple, it turned out that the stats we were working from were wrong (well done china...) but also ventilators are not great for covid patients. Its much better to slap them with oxygen.

Too fragile for a ventilator but not too fragile for ecmo.

Of course they do, as long as there's a bed available. Especially with Covid. No hospital wants to be the one that denied a patient an available ICU bed.

Well at the NHS they'd consider your approach American Overtreatment.

[citation needed]

Do you work in a hospital? do you know any ICU people? I think you are confusing palliative care with ICU

American overtreatment is busting out MRIs for a standard sprain, routine CAT scans, dishing out opiates for anything more than 2weeks