Implementing a Multidisciplinary Prone Positioning Team.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has escalated clinical needs while interrupting regular processes and straining resources. Striving to deliver optimal care to infected patients with respiratory failure, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago created a multidisciplinary team to provide manual prone positioning safely and efficiently. Team members' experiences, which they shared through a survey, help to illustrate the advantages of a multidisciplinary approach and suggest opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of such a team.

Early Identification of Extubation Failure Using Integrated Pulmonary Index and High-Risk Factors.

Background: Early detection and prevention of extubation failure offers the potential to improve patient outcome. The primary aim of this study was to compare the predictive ability of the Integrated Pulmonary Index and presence of high-risk factors in determining extubation failure.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of intubated adult subjects receiving mechanical ventilation for > 24 h was conducted at an academic medical center.

Challenges in Brain Death Determination and Apnea Testing for Patients with COVID-19.

Introduction: Apnea testing remains essential for the clinical evaluation of brain death determination. In patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2, disconnecting the patient from the ventilator and introducing high flow oxygen into the endotracheal tube increases the risk for aerosolization of airway secretions and exposure of the examiner.

Methods: Case report of a patient with an intracerebral hemorrhage that evolved to significant cerebral edema and herniation, who underwent apnea test using a method involving a t-piece and an HME filter.