Ventilateurs de transport (cahier des charges, fonctionnalités, etc.)

Transport ventilators are frequently used in daily practice, although transport of ventilated patients remains potentially dangerous. A transport ventilator should be performant and also be adapted: a ventilator dedicated to a recovery room should not have the same specifications as a one dedicated to prehospital transport or a ventilator dedicated to transport of intensive care patients. The latest generation of pneumatic transport ventilators has good technical resources, avoiding the previous shortcomings: partial delivery of tidal volume, lack of precise monitoring. Electric or second and third generations pneumatic transport ventilators are satisfactory for ventilating “simple case patients”. For critically ill patients, clinicians should use transport ventilators with adjustable FiO2, reliable positive end expiratory pressure, continuous monitoring of pressure, flow and volume curves and monitoring of FiO2 and end expiratory capnogram. Rigorous specifications during transport ventilators call for tenders are necessary to assure safe patient transport.