Technician Sally is hyperventilating an anesthetized patient because the patient was hypoventilating and became light. Sally's rebreathing bag has gone flaccid and needs additional oxygen and inhalant anesthetic so she can continue IPPV and return the patient back to an appropriate plane of anesthesia. Should Sally depress the flush valve to fill her rebreathing bag?
A)Yes, this is the fastest way to fill her rebreathing bag so she can continue IPPV.
B)No, the flush valve allows oxygen to flow at a higher pressure directly into the rebreathing bag and into the breathing circuit which could cause trauma to the patient.
C)Yes, everyone does it and it seems to work.
D)No, the flush valve bypasses the vaporizer and only delivers straight oxygen to the patient.
E)B and D

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Depressing the flush valve to fill a rebreathing bag while a patient is receiving IPPV is extremely dangerous and counterproductive. The flush valve delivers 35-75 L/min directly into the breathing system bypassing the flowmeter and vaporizer. It also dilutes the inhalant anesthetic in the breathing system. In this situation, it would be better to increase the amount of oxygen flowing through the flowmeter and vaporizer to the patient so that the patient receives the amount of inhalant anesthetic calibrated on the vaporizer.

Technician Sally Is Hyperventilating an Anesthetized Patient Because the Patient