Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19 Video Series

Safe Initiation And Management Of Mechanical Ventilation

This issue paper aims to improve the safe initiation and management of mechanical ventilation. Published by the AARC and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) in 2016.

Read This Issue Paper

About the Video Series

There is no question that respiratory therapists along with critical care physicians and nurses are the experts for managing the care for critically ill patients (highlighted in green in the graphic). However, during extreme times like the COVID-19 pandemic, the patient surge capacity may exceed the number of available trained personnel. And so, now is the time to come together. The AARC collaborated with edX and Harvard to launch Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19, a free online introductory course on ventilator use that addresses the urgent need for medical professionals (highlighted in red in the graphic) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This course will not replace the expertise of a critical care respiratory therapist; rather, it provides foundational knowledge that will allow collaboration for the best possible patient care in a crisis situation.

This course is a great primer for non-ICU physicians and other clinicians who are asked to staff critical care areas. It will help these professionals better understand the basic concepts of mechanical ventilation and support the care for the patient receiving mechanical ventilation. We recognize the ever-expanding number of patients contracting COVID-19 and developing pneumonia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage all non-ICU clinicians to consider completing this course, readying themselves to best help their colleagues and patients on the front lines of this virus.

Ventilator Tip Sheet

In addition, a collaboration of respiratory therapists developed a ventilator tip sheet for non-critical care respiratory therapists and RT extenders who may find themselves staffing in the ICU during a pandemic. Download the tip sheet:

Open Critical Care

The Open Critical Care COVID-19 Guidelines Dashboard aggregates guidelines from leading global health authorities into a single recommendation based on concordance. This interactive dashboard summarizes the latest guidelines updates from multiple leading authorities and institutions to help users see where there is consensus and where there is not.

Open Critical Care has also developed a respiratory care pocket card, currently available in English and Spanish.

Managing Demands on Capacity and Staffing

• This 2008 article published in Respiratory Care outlines the challenges with managing demands on capacity, staffing, and Project XTREME, a model developed by respiratory therapists at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Denver Health Medical through funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
• On Apr. 8, 2020, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article focused on managing the rapid increase of health workforce capacity. Read the article “Ensuring and Sustaining a Pandemic Workforce.”
• In April 2020, RAND Health Care published a research report exploring the “Critical Care Surge Response Strategies for the 2020 COVID-19 Outbreak in the United States.”

For questions about this video course, email pandemic-ventilation@aarc.org.

Go to edX to take the complete course or watch the videos below.

Introduction to the Course

Mechanical Ventilation for COVID-19 Course Introduction

Shawna Strickland, Associate Executive Director of American Association of Respiratory Care, introduces a series of videos covering concepts of mechanical ventilation for non ICU medical professionals and discusses the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Tiered Staffing Strategy model for a pandemic (like COVID-19) requiring significant mechanical ventilation.

Basic Introduction to Mechanical Ventilation

Introduction to Mechanical Ventilation

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. The content in this video covers the fundamentals of respiration and the principles behind mechanical ventilation. It serves as an introduction to the mechanical ventilator.

Physiology of Mechanical Ventilation

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. The content in this video covers concepts in oxygenation and ventilation, compliance and resistance, pulmonary mechanics, air-trapping, and physiological responses to intubation and positive pressure ventilation.

Daily Assessment of Mechanically Ventilated Patients

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. This content in this video describes the process for performing a daily systematic patient assessment and how to respond to changes in a patient’s condition. In addition, this video explains how to determine a patient’s rapid shallow breathing index and perform a spontaneous breathing trial.

Extubation

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. The content in this video discusses how to assess a patient for extubation readiness and how to proceed with extubation.

Advanced Topics in Mechanical Ventilation

Setting the Ventilator

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. This content in this video provides an introduction to basic ventilator settings, and responding to the results of blood gas analysis.

Ventilation in ARDS

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. The content in this video serves as an introduction to acute respiratory distress syndrome and evidence-based strategies to treat ventilated patients with ARDS.

Ventilation in Obstructive Lung Disease

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. The content in this video introduces learners to mechanical ventilation for patients with Obstructive Lung Disease.
(video coming soon)

Waveform Analysis for Mechanical Ventilation

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. In this video, learners are introduced to scalars that are displayed on a ventilator screen and how to interpret them.

Mechanical Ventilation in COVID-19 Patients

COVID-19 and Ventilation

This video comes from the HarvardX course, Mechanical Ventilation for COVD-19. The content in this video discusses how mechanical ventilation is different in COVID-19 patients.

For more COVID-19 information, check out our News & Resources page.