I had a similar experience to Meggs523 with the shots but my twins (born 28W) were only ventilated for about 6 hours. CPAP for 24 hours. They are now 20 months and doing great.
It is a very worrying time but anything is possible. Encourage your friend to stay strong and think positive xx
I delivered twins at 30 weeks. When the labor started, they gave me a steriod shot for the babies' lungs to develop. I was told that they like to try and get the shot to be in the system at least 24 hours prior to delivery and they gave me two shots. So in other words, I was given the first shot Sunday night, the second one Monday night, and gave birth Tuesday afternoon because they couldn't stop it. The shot is meant to speed up the lung development, but please realize that it doesn't necessarily mean the baby won't have problems. I had twins and they were both on ventilators and oxygen for a few weeks due to their prematurity. Good luck to your friend.