Page 188 of 292
18. Frequently Asked Questions
18.1 Ventilator Related Questions
18.1.1 What range of patients is the ventilator designed to ventilate?
The ventilator is designed to ventilate neonates, infants and paediatric patients
from 400gms to 20kg.
18.1.2 Can the ventilator be used without a flow sensor?
Yes. When ventilating without using a flow sensor the ventilator is a pressure
limited, time cycled device. The user does not have access to graphics and lung
mechanics monitoring. TTV cannot be enabled. PSV mode functions like PTV as
termination sensitivity is no longer available.
18.1.3 How often must the flow sensor be calibrated?
To maintain the integrity of the flow sensor, it should be calibrated every 24hrs, if
the patient condition allows. If the alarm “Sensor Contamination” is displayed, the
flow sensor will require calibration.
18.1.4 What does “SENSOR CONTAMINATION” mean?
The flow sensor is not necessarily contaminated or dirty! If the measured flow
through the flow sensor is greater than 15LPM for 3.5 seconds, this alarm will be
displayed. That is why we advise the disconnection of the flow sensor from the
patient circuit in the following manner:
Remove the patient circuit from the flow sensor first, and then the flow sensor
from the patient ET connector. When re-connecting, connect the flow sensor to
the ET connector first, and then the flow sensor to the patient circuit. This then
prevents flow from passing through the flow sensor.
If flow passes through the sensor, the flow is ramped up in an attempt to achieve
the selected PIP. As the PIP is not achieved the flow sensor sees this as a fault
and the alarm “Sensor Contamination” is generated. In this instance the flow
sensor has become saturated with flow, not contaminated and just needs
recalibration. If the sensor is genuinely dirty the calibration will fail. You now know
that you need to replace the sensor for a clean sensor.
18.1.5 What is Standby mode used for?
As ventilators are no longer allowed to be pre muted, when the user knows that
an alarm will be generated e.g. disconnecting the circuit, the Standby mode can
be used. In this mode the alarm sound level is further reduced so as not to be an
irritant to the staff. The ventilator will remain in Standby mode for 90 secs before
automatically returning to the ventilation mode. If the user has completed the
procedure before that time, simply pressing the “Standby” mode button will take
the user out of standby mode and back into the selected mode of ventilation.
When in HFO and the user needs to listen to the chest or to heart sounds,
Standby can be enabled. This will stop HFO but maintain the MAP.
To Next Page
Loading...
