Respiratory Devices

Respiratory difficulties stem from many conditions including: asthma, allergies, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), sleep apnea, respiratory distress and air pollution. Many respiratory devices available provide relief for those with trouble breathing. Types of respiratory devices include: continuous positive airway pressure devices, bag valve masks, CPR masks and flow-restricted oxygen power ventilation devices, nasal cannulas, non-rebreather masks and nebulizers.

A continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device is a type of respiratory ventilator used to keep a patient’s airway open. First developed for the treatment of sleep apnea, CPAP devices are now commonly indicated for patients with chronic heart failure, respiratory distress and arrest and COPD. CPAP devices are also frequently used on premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital.

Sometimes emergency situations will call for the use of respiratory devices to respond to or prevent respiratory arrest. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, respiratory therapists and emergency room nurses often have to perform rescue breathing when a patient is in respiratory arrest. A bag valve mask (BVM or Ambu bag), a hand-held device used to provide positive pressure ventilation, is the most routinely used respiratory device in emergency situations on patients who are unable to or have difficulty breathing on their own. Barrier devices, or CPR masks, are the one of the most basic emergency respiratory devices available, enabling the rescuer to perform CPR on a patient without direct mouth-to-mouth contact.

Flow-restricted oxygen power ventilation devices (FROPVD) are primarily used to assist ventilation in hypoventilating or apneic patients. Also called manually triggered ventilation devices (MTV), these devices can also be used to provide supplemental oxygen to breathing patients.

The nasal cannula and non-rebreather mask are respiratory devices mainly used to provide a low concentration of supplemental oxygen to a patient in need of respiratory help.

Nebulizers are respiratory devices turn liquid medications into a mist, which can then be inhaled into the lungs. Nebulizers are most commonly used for the treatment of asthma, COPD and cystic fibrosis.