(Previous posts: mode of ventilation, work of breathing) As the ventilator alarm grows louder and louder as you walk closer to the room of the patient you just intubated, you review the "DOPES" mnemonic in your head. Except that in the COVID era, you have to be careful with aerosolization (can't BVM or allow ETT [...]
All of this discussion hinges on understanding the origins of air FLOW. A pressure differential or gradient is the key requirement. Tachypnea is the expected response to lung inflammation that produces stimulation of irritant, stretch, and…