Artificial Ventilation in Difficult and Extreme Environments

Abstract

Artificial ventilation may be required in difficult and extreme environments which are quite different from normal hospital, emergency medical and paramedical practice. These include disasters, where the medical infrastructure may be severely overloaded or disrupted in developed and developing nations alike, respiratory epidemics where there is a requirement for mass ventilation, in toxic environments, in high and low pressure conditions and normal medical practice in areas of the world where the medical services are very limited. All these circumstances provide challenges for those providing artificial ventilation and for the equipment they are using. These can be overcome by careful planning, training and familiarity with the potential hazards and how the circumstances can affect the performance of the ventilators being used.