A single ventilator for multiple simulated patients to meet disaster surge

Area of Science:

• Medical Devices
• Respiratory Care
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Healthcare systems face challenges during mass casualty incidents.
• Limited availability of mechanical ventilators can exacerbate respiratory failure management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of modifying a standard emergency department ventilator for simultaneous ventilation of multiple patients.
• To evaluate the performance of a modified ventilator system using lung simulators.

Main Methods:

• A Puritan-Bennett 840 Series ventilator was connected to four human lung simulators in parallel using readily available plastic tubing.
• The system was tested under both pressure control and volume control modes for nearly 12 hours.
• Key parameters including peak pressure, PEEP, tidal volume, and minute ventilation were recorded.

Main Results:

• One ventilator successfully ventilated four lung simulators for 12 hours with minimal dead space.
• In pressure control, mean tidal volume was ~471 mL/simulator; in volume control, total minute ventilation was 32.5 L/min.
• Delivered volumes were deemed sufficient to support four 70-kg individuals.

Conclusions:

• A single ventilator can be rapidly adapted to support multiple simulated adults.
• This pilot study indicates potential for expanding ventilator use during mass casualty events.
• Further research is warranted to validate this approach in clinical settings.