|
|
Abstract by Respiratory Care Technology Faculty and Graduates Gets Published as of 3/20/08
An abstract prepared by faculty and graduates of the Respiratory Care Technology was published in November 2007 issue of The Journal of Respiratory Care. Joe Ciarlo RRT, Coordinator, and Tom Blackson, RRT, Clinical Coordinator of the Respiratory Care Technology Program led the research. Erin Italia, Alina Kurkoska and Tara Meade, class of 2007, performed the data collection.
The goal of their work was to determine the effect of an automatic “shut-off” timer on the delivery of aerosol medications during mechanical ventilation. Tom Blackson explained, “Many life support systems, (mechanical ventilators), incorporate a timer that automatically terminates the delivery of an aerosol medication once a specific time period has elapsed. In patients who are less critically ill, these same medications are delivered without a timer. Treatment times are based upon clinician observation and judgment. Numerous studies have evaluated the effect of clinician terminated treatments on the amount of medication delivered. We encouraged our students to evaluate the effect of the timed shut-off mechanism, incorporated in four critical care ventilators, on the amount of medication delivered.”
Their research found that none of the mechanical ventilators tested delivered a standard dose of the most commonly administered drug preparation during the timed treatment. As a result, physicians and clinicians may under dose critically ill patients unless they are aware of the limitations of the automatic aerosol timers incorporated into most modern mechanical ventilators.
|
|
