🫁Ventilator Basics🫁

As a medSLP, you may have the opportunity to work with patients who are mechanically ventilated, or "on a vent." A ventilator, also known as a respirator or breathing machine, is a medical device that provides a patient with oxygen when they are unable to breathe on their own. Mechanical ventilation is the most used short-term life support technique utilized worldwide (Tai et al, 2017).

Mechanical ventilation is utilized in scenarios ranging from planned surgical procedures to acute traumas to acute organ failure (Tai et al., 2017). If a patient is intubated for a prolonged period of time & cannot be liberated from ventilator support, the medical team may pursue placement of a tracheostomy.

A ventilator will provide three basic types of breaths:
1. Controlled Breath Support: the ventilator is in complete control of breath support. The pt will expend no effort during respiration because the ventilator will do everything. The ventilator will provide a consistent amount of oxygen at a consistent time to the patient (eg: a breath every 5 seconds with the same quantity of oxygen
delivered). On vent modes with this setting, the patient would NOT be able to take any spontaneous breaths, so the use of these settings is limited.

2. Assisted Breath Support: breath support is partially controlled by the ventilator. This means that if the person is spontaneously trying to take a breath the vent will let them, but if they do not take a breath in time, the vent will provide them one. Essentially, with assisted breath support, the person can initiate breathing if they are able to, but if they fail to initiate a breath in time, the ventilator will take over and breathe for them.

3. Supported or Spontaneous Breath Support:
This is when breathing is triggered completely by the patient, but once the breath is triggered, the ventilator will provide some very minimal oxygen and pressure support. (Mora et al., 2018)

Swipe through to learn some vent terminology and go to MedSLPCollective.com/clipboard to get the completely FREE, open-access resource!
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#medslpcollective #ashaigers #speechpathology #slpeeps Posted @withregram • @medslp_collective ...

You all asked, so here you go! Alternatives to a PECS system. Let’s break it down a bit 👇🏻

I almost always skip the “low tech” options, or free iPAD app options, and go straight to a robust, complete communication system. Why? There is no prerequisite to accessing full, appropriate, complete communication systems. I believe every student deserves that access.

However, there are sometimes legal measures that need to be taken to prove that a student is “ready” for higher tech options. Or perhaps you’re a parent who wants to test out a system before committing to the full price. In which case, I highly recommend using core/fringe boards, real picture exchange boards, or FREE iPAD applications to start.

There are many FREE iPAD applications. TD Snap Lite and Cough Drop came most frequently recommended from my SLP colleagues.

The paid iPAD apps listed are just 4 of my most frequently used. NOTE: SLPs can get free, FULL versions of many of the popular AAC apps! Posted @withregram • @bohospeechie ...

"It feels like it won't go down.."
"It's stuck right here.." *points to throat*
"My chest hurts when I eat certain foods.."

How many times have you gotten into a swallow eval and heard these complaints? So, you complete your eval, because we know all phases of the swallow are connected and recommend a GI consult.

Then your patient gets some test that you have to Google because it definitely wasn't in your dysphagia book from grad school. Even though SLPs don't recommend specific tests, it's important to know the information that can be gleaned from each one so that you can make more specific recommendations to support the GI team and understand what you can and can't learn from a specific assessment.

Swipe through to read about a few GI diagnostics that are commonly used and some of their pros/cons.

🔗You can get the full guide to these common GI diagnostics (and a couple hundred pages of additional resources) for FREE in our Clipboard Kit at MedSLPCollective.com/Clipboard

If you're interested in esophageal dysphagia, make sure you catch the MedSLP Summit to hear Julie Huffman's talk on this topic!
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#medslpcollective #ashaigers #speechpathology #slpeeps #instaslp #slplife #slp2b #feedingtherapy #speechtherapy #speechlanguagepathologist #medslp #slpbloggers #speechtherapyideas #slpgradstudent #speechies #speechlanguagepathology #slpsofinstagram #slpeeps #speechtherapy #slplife #slp2b #speechpathologist #medicalprofessionals #healthcareworkers #speechandlanguage #speechtherapylife #aac #slpmom #speechtherapylife Posted @withregram • @medslp_collective ...