10
CAREvent® ALS - User Manual
3.2. Manual Ventilation and Cardiac Compressions.
The CAREvent® ALS Handheld Resuscitator has a Manually
Actuated, Automatic Ventilation Override button (Manual Button)
to assist in the timing of ventilations in conjunction with external
cardiac compressions.
By using the Manual Button, the operation of the ventilator can
be easily timed with the chest compressions so as to avoid the
potential problem of the aspiration of stomach contents due to
gastric distension which may occur if overlap of chest compression
and inflation occurs. (It has been shown in some studies that,
in patients that are intubated, this overlap of compression and
inflation may increase cardiac output without the danger of gastric
distension.) The flowrate provided is equivalent to the setting on
the automatic setting selector providing flowrates equivalent to the
size of patient being ventilated, thereby reducing airway pressures
and the risk of aspiration of stomach contents still further.
1. If no respiratory effort is observed, position yourself above
the patient’s head and apply the face mask over the patients
mouth and nose. The thumb and index fingers are used to
hold the mask to the face while the remaining three fingers of
each hand are placed along the angle of the jaw. A tilt action
is used to hyperextend the neck and move the jaw forward.
This helps displace the tongue away from the back of the
throat and maintains an open airway.
2. Select the tidal volume/frequency of ventilation for the size
of patient being resuscitated. Depress the manual button and
observe the rise of the patient’s chest. Release the button
when chest rise is adequate.
3. If the patient’s chest does not rise or gas escapes around
the mask or the pateint valve(A) (Fig.3) operates, reposition
the patients head and adjust your hand position to obtain an
effective mask seal and an open airway.
4. Monitor the patient’s skin, nailbed and lip colour.
5. If mask indicates signs of vomitus, remove immediately and
clear the airway. Restart ventilation immediately after clearing
airway.
6. Continue ventilation at an appropriate rate until relieved or
until spontaneous breathing returns.
