Serious question: Is a ventilator the same as a respirator?
Generally speaking, yes. It is a machine that controls breathing for the patient via an endotracheal tube. You control the pressure, rate of breaths, oxygen content and a few other things with it. To get everything right, you need to obtain occasional chest stays and blood gasses to get the settings right.
Some confusion comes as the N95 masks, the round fitted type, are referred to as respirators. But it’s just a higher filtration mask.