Early recognition of patients who might potentially require ventilatory support is a key goal of critical care outreach programs and an important skill for all hospital medical staff.

Decisions about the initiation and timing of invasive ventilation can be difficult and early discussion with critical care colleagues is essential. Appropriateness of invasive ventilatory support may also be an issue requiring advanced discussion with patients and their families.

In the past 10–15 years, the role of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) has expanded, not least in an attempt to minimize the complications inherent with invasive ventilation. As such, NIV is now considered first-line therapy in some conditions (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary oedema, mild-to-moderate hypoxae...