Minimum requirements for ventilator testing

Following is a revised version of our Guidance Article "Minimum Requirements for Respiratory Care Ventilator Testing," which was published in the September-October 1997 issue of Health Devices (26[9-10]). This revision is similar to the original article but reflects several changes made to a few of the tests. Readers should use this revised procedure instead of the one published last year. As in the original article, we address the performance verification procedures required for ventilators that lack self-diagnostics, as is true of some older models. Specifically, we list the minimum tests that should be performed when time constraints prevent users from completing a formal operational verification procedure (which, in some circumstances, can take as long as an hour).