CPAP System Taking a Load Off

EMS providers already have enough strain on their backs from lifting and moving patients; they don’t need to add to it by lugging around heavy equipment.

For Jeff Robinson, battalion chief-training at Johnson County Med-Act in Olathe, KS, that was a big motivator behind his agency’s switch to the Pulmodyne O2-MAX CPAP System. He says his agency began using CPAP on patients in 2008, but when it came time to update equipment he looked at several options and nothing really compared to the O2-MAX.

“The ease of setup was a big factor,” Robinson explains. “And it’s relatively light. The fact that it can be used disposably, it’s much lighter that way. A lot of our previous equipment had non-disposable elements that were metal and plastic, which tended to be a little bit heavier. This lightens the paramedics’ physical carrying load by quite a bit. And then we were also struck by the relative portability of it, the fact that it fit in our equipment and our clinical parameters, too.”

The O2-MAX System delivers continuous positive airway pressure throughout the breathing cycle. It provides CPAP at preset levels throughout inspiration and exhalation, independent of the patient’s flow rate. The O2-MAX System is intended for use on spontaneously breathing patients and there is no assembly required.

Robinson says Johnson County Med-Act initially provided CPAP strictly for cryogenic pulmonary edema. But about four years ago the agency expanded that protocol to include other situations, such as drowning, asthma, COPD and some others. And while they haven’t been using the O2-MAX long enough to provide accurate clinical results, anecdotally the reviews have been nothing but positive.

“Our people do talk a great deal about how much easier it is to set up, and how this equipment works better with our other equipment,” Robinson says. “It’s actually the ease of use that our paramedics really like the most.”

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