To assess/monitor a patients status during transport, and to adjust care as appropriate
To maintain a patent airway
To notify the patients nurse and physician:
When a patients airway is suspected or confirmed compromised
When there is a negative change in the patients pulmonary/overall status during the transport
You should suggest not to transport a patient if there is:
Inability to provide adequate oxygenation / ventilation during transport
Inability to maintain acceptable hemodynamic performance during transport
Inability to adequately monitor patient during transport
Inability to maintain airway control during transport
Inability to provide all staff members deemed necessary to transport patient
Transport of all intubated patients should be done via a ventilator
Equipment needed when you transport a vent:
Resuscitation bag (anesthesia bag with pressure manometer) / mask and airway connector
Spare artificial airways
Self-inflating resuscitation bag (to be used in case of loss of O2 source)
Appropriate size resuscitation mask
Oxygen or blended gas source of adequate volume to complete transport
Intubation supplies readily available
Portable suction machine and tubing
Equivalent monitoring to that from the bedside
To transport a patient on HFNC:
Take O2 tubing from the blender and plug into an oxygen e cylinder set to the correct flow
If cardiac, use air and O2 tank to replace wall source gases for the blender
How to set up a patient for transport who is on the vent (no oxygen precautions)
Make sure you have a full tank with a transport regulator attached to it and that the tank is open and functioning correctly
With the air still plugged into the wall, unplug the O2 from the wall and attach to the quick connect on the transport regulator
Set FiO2 on vent to 100%, unplug the air from the wall and wrap up hose on the back of the vent
Unplug the vent and heater if plugged in. You will get 2 alarms soon. The first is the vent is unplugged and the 2nd is the air source is low, which makes sense because at the time you will not have one
Use the hook on the back of the O2 tank roller to hook the tank on the handle of the servo
Arrange the vent at the head of the bed, secure the circuit to the bed, and get other necessary equipment for transports (bags, suction)
Tanks
Any gas filled tank that is a solid color, is NOT MRI compatible.
All MRI compatible tanks are only colored in a ring at the top of the tank. The main body of the tank should be an aluminum color.
If its a solid color all the way, the tank isnt MRI compatible and could be pulled into the magnet, causing a shut down period and possible damage to the MRI itself.
