The therapist is performing a routine assessment and ventilator check on a patient who is receiving heliox near the wye adapter of the ventilator circuit. He notices a serious discrepancy between the set tidal and the exhaled volume. What should the therapist do to correct this situation?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The safest method to deliver helium-oxygen mixtures via mechanical ventilation is to connect an 80/20 heliox mixture to the heliox-approved inlet of the mechanical ventilator. The practitioner then uses the ventilator's oxygen concentration control to adjust helium and oxygen to the desired mixture. This allows the practitioner to deliver a helium concentration up to the 80% helium. It is important to note that ventilators may not function properly with helium as a source gas.

The Therapist Is Performing a Routine Assessment and Ventilator Check