Organ procurement organization and university-based respiratory care program partnership to develop student internships.

Introduction: Health care providers working as organ recovery coordinators (ORC) in the United States have diverse backgrounds and many of the skills needed for the position are obtained during on-the-job training. Some students in health care programs express interest in the organ procurement field but have limited experience and knowledge regarding organ procurement practices. In response to this, a partnership was developed between an undergraduate respiratory care (RC) program and its local organ procurement organization (OPO) to develop and initiate an internship designed to educate students regarding organ procurement.

Teaching Health Care Students the Radial Arterial Puncture Procedure.

The radial artery puncture is a frequently ordered medical procedure for patients requiring blood gas analysis. Deviating from the proper procedure increases the likelihood of error and jeopardizes patient safety. The teaching methodology for the radial artery puncture is rarely addressed in the medical literature.

Identifying Potential Ventilator Auto-Triggering Among Organ Procurement Organization Referrals.

Context: Ventilator auto-trigger is the delivery of an assisted mechanical ventilated breath over the set ventilator frequency in the absence of a spontaneous inspiratory effort and can be caused by inappropriate ventilator trigger sensitivity. Ventilator auto-trigger can be misinterpreted as a spontaneous breath and has the potential to delay or prevent brain death testing and confuse health-care professionals and/or patient families.

Objective: To determine the frequency of organ donor referrals from 1 Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) that could benefit from an algorithm designed to assist organ recovery coordinators to identify and correct ventilator auto-triggering.

Right Versus Left Prong Nasal Cannula Flow Delivery and the Effects of Nasal Cycling on Inspired F(IO2) in an Adult Anatomic Model.

Background: Nasal cycling may present negative consequences for oxygen-dependent patients using a nasal cannula. This study investigates the effects of nasal cycling on the delivered F(IO2) via nasal cannula in an anatomic model following a baseline study comparing right and left prong nasal cannula oxygen flow delivery.

Methods: Flow from right and left nasal cannula prongs were measured simultaneously using thermal mass flow meters while delivering 0.

Suction catheter size: an assessment and comparison of 3 different calculation methods.

Background: Current American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) clinical practice guidelines recommend a suction catheter to endotracheal tube ratio (SC/ETT) based on the external diameter of the SC and the internal diameter of the ETT. An SC/ETT ratio of < 50% is consistent with the current recommendation. We theorized that a more satisfactory assessment of SC/ETT ratio could be accomplished using volume or area formulas and expansion of diameter recommendations.

Effects of concurrent respiratory resistance training on health-related quality of life in wheelchair rugby athletes: a pilot study.

Purpose: To compare the effects of 9 weeks of training with a concurrent flow resistance (CFR) device versus a concurrent pressure threshold resistance (CPTR) device on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in wheelchair rugby (WR) athletes.

Method: Twenty-four male WR athletes (22 with tetraplegia, 1 with a spastic cerebral palsy, and 1 with congenital upper and lower limb deformities) were matched by lesion level, completeness of injury, and rugby classification prior to being randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: (1) CPTR (n=8), (2) CFR (n=8), or (3) controls (CON, n=8). Pre/post testing included assessment of HRQoL as measured by the Short-Form Health Survey Version 2.

Comparing the effects of rise time and inspiratory cycling criteria on 6 different mechanical ventilators.

Background: Inspiratory rise time and cycling criteria are important settings in pressure support ventilation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of minimum and maximum rise time and inspiratory cycling criteria settings on 6 new generation ventilators. Our hypothesis was there would be a difference in the exhaled tidal volume, inspiratory time, and peak flow among 6 different ventilators, based, on change in rise time and cycling criteria.

Effects of respiratory resistance training with a concurrent flow device on wheelchair athletes.

Background/objective: To determine the effect of respiratory resistance training (RRT) with a concurrent flow respiratory (CFR) device on respiratory function and aerobic power in wheelchair athletes.

Methods: Ten male wheelchair athletes (8 with spinal cord injuries, 1 with a neurological disorder, and 1 with postpolio syndrome), were matched by lesion level and/or track rating before random assignment to either a RRT group (n = 5) or a control group (CON, n = 5). The RRT group performed 1 set of breathing exercises using Expand-a-Lung, a CFR device, 2 to 3 times daily for 10 weeks.