-Original-

A Study on Points of Respiratory Assist Devices Using in Pre-Hospital Care Respiratory Assist Devices in Pre-Hospital Care

Kenji Fujimoto, Shinnosuke Kitano, Satoshi Harada, Kenji Narikawa, Kensuke Suzuki, Marina Yamada, Mayumi Nakazawa and Satoo Ogawa

Graduate School of Medical and Health Science, Nippon Sport Science University, Kanagawa, Japan

Background: In Japan, increasing the number of ambulance requests, the case with the use of respiratory assistance devices in prehospital care by paramedics is also increasing¹. When patient experiences respiratory failure, the first responders frequently select a respiratory assist device (RAD) such as Bag Valve Mask (BVM), Jackson Rees (JR), or BVM with Gas Supply Valve^® (BVM+GSV). This is based on both evaluation and experience as there is no study indicating which RAD is the best choice at the pre-hospital emergency site. This study clarified the precautions when using BVM, JR, and BVM+GSV in pre-hospital emergency medical care with healthy volunteers.
Methods: Twenty healthy adults were fitted with a RAD while breathing spontaneously, and changes in vital signs and ETCO₂ were observed.
Results: The level of ETCO₂ became elevated after each RAD was attached. The value was significantly higher in the JR group than in the others.
Conclusions: The study showed that even in the presence of spontaneous breathing, ETCO₂ increased markedly with the application of respiratory assist devices that are used in pre-hospital care for conditions such as hypoxemia and ventilatory disturbance. The increase in ETCO₂ was particularly significant in the JR group, suggesting the need for caution when selecting JRs for pre-hospital care. As the number of subjects was only 20 for each RAD, studies with a larger sample size are needed.

J Nippon Med Sch 2023; 90: 173-178

Keywords
respiratory assist device, respiratory failure emergency medical care, emergency ventilation

Correspondence to
Kenji Fujimoto, The Graduate School of Health and Sport Science of Nippon Sport Science University, 1221-1 Kamoshida-cho, Aoba-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 227-0033, Japan
ken6544@gmail.com

Received, October 25, 2022
Accepted, November 15, 2022