Pressure-Regulated Ventilator Splitting (PReVentS): A COVID-19 Response Paradigm from Yale University

Micha Sam Brickman Raredon; Clark Fisher; Paul Heerdt; Ranjit Deshpande; Steven Nivison; Elaine Fajardo; Shamsuddin Akhtar; Thomas Raredon; Laura E. Niklason

• All valves must be in the proper place, inserted in the proper orientation and functioning properly (neither sticking nor leaking). • Certain ventilator alarms will not work as they do in single-patient operation, and it is critical to implement a comprehensive monitoring and alarm strategy and train all caretakers on it. • Inspiratory pressures, expiratory pressures, and expiratory volumes should be measured independently for each patient at regular intervals. Ideally, these measurements should be continuous. Even judiciously set alarms on the shared ventilator will not be able to identify certain potentially serious changes in patient status. • Valves in the patient circuit have the potential to limit flow even when open.