Preventive Maintenance of a Ventilator

Ventilators or respirators are devices used to assist patients in ventilating their lungs. There are many things to be done for a ventilator during a Preventive Maintainance check-up, most manufacturers recommend that a PM to be applied every 3 months of use, during which you will be prompted to do some or all of the following: 

• Inspect for any physical damage that might indicate mechanical damage or an abrupt mechanical damage. 
• Run a full performance check, where you will check all modes of operation of the ventilator
• Change the air intake filter.
• Verify that all audible and visual alarms are working properly.
• Inspect labels.
• If there is a cooling fan filter then it is recommended to be inspected and cleaned every month (if you are in a dusty area you might want to clean it more often).
• Some ventilators have an option to self-calibrate their oxygen sensor. This needs to be done often. (daily or as needed)
• If the ventilator has a collector vial then it needs to be cleaned and disinfected, in most cases, the collector vial can be sent to the autoclave to disinfect it. (daily or as needed)  

Find out more about this emotional topic on the original report of BME Blog.