Resp Care
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Due to increasing concern over potential cross-infection during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a number of disposable resuscitators have become commercially available. The wearing of disposable medical gloves by persons performing CPR has also become commonplace. In this study, we evaluated the effects of hand size, use of disposable medical gloves, and number of hands used (one versus two) on the volumes delivered by five adult disposable resuscitators. ⋯ The use of gloves did not significantly affect volume delivery. Delivered volumes did increase significantly as hand size increased and as number of hands used to squeeze the bag increased, and observed differences in volume delivery between brands of resuscitators may be clinically important in some cases. This study emphasizes the importance of squeezing the resuscitator with two hands during bag-valve ventilation.
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We sought to determine the potential for disposable prefilled humidifiers to become contaminated during extended patient use. ⋯ An automatic 72-hour change-out for prefilled humidifiers used with low-flow oxygen (less than or equal to 4 L/min) is wasteful. Our study demonstrates that the use-time of humidifiers can be safely extended to as long as 6-12 days.