This ventilator is set up in assist/control, volume controlled ventilation.

Lets explain what some of those numbers on the ventilation screen mean.

1. The respiratory rate set by the user. This is the mandatory rate which the machine will deliver regardless of what the patient does. This is in breaths per minute.

2. The tidal volume per breath. This is volume controlled ventilation so this is the volume of air the patient will get with each breath. They will get that 20 times per minute with this set up.

3. Flow- How fast is the breath delivered by the ventilator.

4. Waveform- This is a square waveform which means that the air is delivered at a constant pressure throughout inspiration.

5. Oxygen concentration as a percentage. In this example it is 21% which equates to room air. Most ventilated patients will be on more than this.

6. Trigger variable- sometimes the patient may make some effort to breathe. This is just one of the ways another breath can be triggered. In this example if the patient generates a flow of 3 litres per minute then the ventilator will deliver another breath of 500mls.

For more on this go and look at Ollie Pooles fabulous YouTube channel