Results of a Survey of Ventilator Circuit Practices in the United States

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Abstract
The responses to a survey of ventilator circuit practices published in Infection Control are shown in the Table. The majority of 249 individuals who responded were located in community hospitals or community teaching hospitals of 100 to 500 beds. Most of the hospitals changed ventilator circuits (tubing humidifying cascades and swivel adapters) every 24 hours or less. Interestingly, 30.1% of the hospitals indicated that “self-study” was used to determine the time interval of ventilator circuit changes. Our 1982 study of contamination in mechanical ventilators at 24 and 48 hours confirmed earlier observations that mechanical ventilators with cascade humidifiers do not generate small particle aerosols.

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