Well it’s hard to keep up a serious interest in blogging when so few of the class are reading this stuff but I hope to reward those of you reading it now!
I would like to give you few who do check this out a little heads up about next week. The next chapters on Ventilator Classification are a real slog for students. I’ve got some worksheets and a few things to try and keep us on track but it really pays to read ahead. What seems to be the biggest obstacle is the new vocabulary we need to develop so that we can start to understand the performance aspects of mechanical ventilators. Once this is established we can start our discussions about the modes of ventilation and some of the nuances of ventilating specific patients and adjusting the ventilator to meet their needs.
The essence of this next module is so that we can understand table 42-2, Specifications for some of the modes. In this table we need to understand all the headings such as; Breathing Pattern, Control Type, Trigger, Limit, and Cycle. Once these terms are understood we can begin to define the characteristics and unique aspects of each mode of ventilation.
The assignment for this course is actually a virtual laboratory experiment where you will derive the relationship of all ventilator controls for three common modes of ventilation. For the assignment you will use the virtual ventilator models that I have derived for you. These are useful because they allow you to control the ventilator and patient parameters, see the resulting outputs without being tangled up in alarms, and ventilator specific controls. The input and outputs are clearly established in this assignment. I test regularly and deeply on this subject matter. It is an expectation that you understand the controls and the interactions.
Please complete this form (click here for RESP 220 Feedback) and give me some feedback about the class. All input into this form are anonymous.
Thank you
