Discusses the shortage of Ventilators expected in a pandemic and possible solutions. One solution proposed by the Pandemic Ventilator project is to design a ventilator that can be home built from common materials. Two designs are in the works at the project and the progress is reported on as well.

There are also posts about how home made ventilators were effectively used during the polio pandemic in the face of severe shortage to save lives in the 1930s to early 1950s.
http://panvent.blogspot.com/2008/01/everything-old-is-new-again.html

http://www.panvent.blogspot.com

Video of a homemade ventilator running
http://panvent.blogspot.com/2007/04/video-of-ventilator-running.html