EMCrit Lecture – Dominating the Vent: Part I

When I was a resident, every vent lecture either put me to sleep or left me dazed and bewildered. I gave a lecture of that ilk when I started working after fellowship. I had become part of the problem. I decided there must be a way to make vent management more understandable and if not interesting, at least bearable.

This lecture was up on the soon to be defunct EMCrit Lecture site. It offers a path to managing any patient on the ventilator in the ED. I have tried to simplify as much as possible while still maintaining an evidence-based approach.

This is Part I, it deals with the lung injury strategy. Next week, we’ll talk about the strategy for patients with obstructive lung disease.

There are only 4 things you need to remember for a lung injury patient:

Vt (Tidal Volume) = Lung Protection

Flow Rate = Patient Comfort

Resp Rate = Ventilation

FiO2/PEEP = Oxygenation

First Print out this Handout

If you need just the audio [right or cntrl click here]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (72.1MB) | Embed

Related posts:

1. EMCrit Podcast 15 – the Severe Asthmatic
2. EMCrit Podcast 12 – Trauma Resus: Part I
3. EMCrit Podcast 13 – Trauma Resus II: Massive Transfusion
4. EMCrit Podcast 1-Sympathetic Crashing Acute Pulmonary Edema
5. EMCrit Podcast 18 – The Infamous Awake Intubation Video

Tagged as: ali, ards, PEEP, respiratory failure, ventilator