Systems and methods for assisting respiration extrathoracically, particularly useful for augmenting respiration in neonatal patients, including providing a positive pressure to a torso area of a patient. The positive pressure may be delivered to the torso area of the patient while the torso area is exposed to an ambient pressure, such as by providing positive pressure with high frequency gas jets that are positioned in proximity to the torso area. The positive pressure may be delivered to different parts of the torso area of the patient at different times, such as by controlling gas jets independently. The positive pressure may also be controlled in coordination with a gas flow and concentration to the patient's airway, such as by increasing the positive pressure as a gas flow pressure delivered to the patient's airway is reduced. The gas flow to the patient's airway may be provided by, for example, a high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) mechanism or a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mechanism that is controlled in coordination with the positive pressure based upon a desired respiratory function of the patient. The control of the gas flow and the positive pressure may be based on an input of patient monitored parameters and/or calculated values based on the patient monitored parameters.