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19.9 Leaking Fresh Gas
The alarm message “Leaking Fresh Gas” means
that fresh gas to the patient is leaking somewhere.
This must not be confused with the alarm message
“Patient Leak”. There will be a leak of fresh gas
somewhere in the patient circuit between the wall
supply and the ventilator humidifier, or the humidifier
and patient connector.
Action: Check patient. Check all connections,
temperature probe ports on the patient circuit
and the water trap.
19.10 High Patient Leak
This “Leak” is the leak measured around the distal
end of the endotracheal tube. Infant ET tubes are
uncuffed and therefore there will be a leak around
the end of the tube. The smaller the tube, the
greater the leak is likely to be. It is measured as a
percentage and is the difference between what was
inspired compared to what was expired.The user is
able to set the “Leak Alarm” threshold at any point
between 10%-50% or OFF altogether. The
threshold default is set to 25%. A leak is considered
significant if above 20%. A large leak is an
indication to change the ET tube for a larger sized
tube. However many ill infants will not tolerate this
procedure. Sometimes a change of patient position
will reduce the leak.
Action: Check patients O2 saturation. Change
patient position. Consider reintubation with a
larger sized ET tube.
19.11 Clean Flow Sensor
There will be two messages in the alarm window. In
the usual space will read “Clean Flow Sensor”. At
the top of the alarm window will appear a smaller
box in which is written “Reset Contamination
Alarm”. There are two possible reasons for this
alarm;
(i)There are secretions in the flow sensor.
(ii)The flow through the flow sensor has increased to
more than 15 l/min and for longer than 3.5 seconds.
The reason for this is that the patient manifold and
the flow sensor has been disconnected from the
patient ET tube connector. The flow is ramped up in
an attempt to deliver the selected PIP. When the
PIP cannot be achieved with the increased flow, the
flow sensor senses a problem and the “Clean Flow
Sensor” alarm is generated.
Action: Press the “Reset Contamination Alarm”
button and calibrate the flow sensor as
described in the calibration menu. If the
calibration is successful then the reason was
the incorrect disconnection of the circuit. If
calibration is unsuccessful, then it really does
mean that the flow sensor has been
contaminated with secretions. The flow sensor
must be removed and replaced with a sterile
flow sensor. The contaminated sensor must
then be cleaned according to the guidelines laid
out the in the user manual.
19.12 Faulty Flow Sensor
The message under the alarm will read “Flow
sensor is defective”. Within the body of the flow
sensor are three very fine and delicate wires. Any
incorrect handling of the flow sensor could result in
one or more of these wires breaking, triggering a
“Faulty Flow Sensor” alarm. Therefore these flow
sensors need very careful handling. Dropping them
or holding them under running water, storing them
loosely will result in defective sensors.
Action: Keep flow sensor protected and stored
in the supplied box. Replace with new sensor.
19.13 Flow Calibration Fail
For some reason the flow sensor will not calibrate,
even if the message has been “Calibration
Complete”. The reason could be that the sensor is
defective due to mishandling or has secretions
preventing adequate flow through the sensor.
Action: Handle sensor according to the
guidelines laid out in the user manual. Replace
with new sensor.
19.14 Calibrate Flow Sensor
This alarm is generated every time the ventilator is
powered up, or the flow sensor and patient manifold
have been disconnected in an incorrect sequence.
Action: Recalibrate the flow sensor. Take care
when disconnecting the patient manifold and
sensor. Ensure it is done in the correct
sequence.
19.15 Apnoea
This alarm is generated when the time between
breaths exceeds the selected apnoea delay time.
This will happen in patient interactive modes of
ventilation e.g PSV, PTV, SIMV, CPAP.
Action: Check patient effort. The breath
detection level may need to be adjusted as
perhaps all patient effort was not captured. The
same could apply when the Apnoea alarm is
triggered in pressure triggering mode i.e. no
flow sensor in situ.
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