The Ventilator Project

A raging pandemic, a dearth of life-saving equipment, and ninety days to manufacture a world-class ventilator. On 24 March 2020, a nationwide lockdown was imposed in India in the face of a formidable adversary, the Covid-19 pandemic. With the number of cases increasing exponentially, hospitals were faced with a dangerous shortage of life-saving equipment and personnel. In response to the imminent crisis, Amitabha Bandyopadhyay and Srikant Sastri formed the IIT Kanpur ventilator Consortium as a task force to assist a young startup, Nocca Robotics, in building affordable high-quality ventilators for India’s cash-strapped hospitals. Under the mentorship of reputed industry leaders, the task force and the Nocca team worked tirelessly against unprecedented odds – trammelled by a ban on imports and telecommuting through Zoom and Whatsapp in the face of stringent lockdown restrictions – to manufacture the Noccarc V310 in record time. This is the incredible story of its conception, creation and success, in the words of the task force co-leaders themselves. Inspiring and riveting, The Ventilator Project also offers an unmatched blueprint for business in the post-Covid era through first-hand lessons gleaned during the task force’s phenomenal ninety-day run. It proves that India, with its deep recesses of talent and ingenuity, has the potential to be a world leader in both business and social impact.

This guideline defines ventilation and then natural ventilation. It explores the design requirements for natural ventilation in the context of infection control, describing the basic principles of design, construction, operation and maintenance for an effective natural ventilation system to control infection in health-care settings.

Practical clinical handbook reviewing all aspects of the diagnosis and management of intra-abdominal hypertension; essential reading for all critical care staff.

A practical application-based guide to adult mechanical ventilation This trusted guide is written from the perspective of authors who have more than seventy-five years' experience as clinicians, educators, researchers, and authors. Featuring chapters that are concise, focused, and practical, this book is unique. Unlike other references on the topic, this resource is about mechanical ventilation rather than mechanical ventilators. It is written to provide a solid understanding of the general principles and essential foundational knowledge of mechanical ventilation as required by respiratory therapists and critical care physicians. To make it clinically relevant, Essentials of Mechanical Ventilation includes disease-specific chapters related to mechanical ventilation in these conditions. Essentials of Mechanical Ventilation is divided into four parts: Part One, Principles of Mechanical Ventilation describes basic principles of mechanical ventilation and then continues with issues such as indications for mechanical ventilation, appropriate physiologic goals, and ventilator liberation. Part Two, Ventilator Management, gives practical advice for ventilating patients with a variety of diseases. Part Three, Monitoring During Mechanical Ventilation, discusses blood gases, hemodynamics, mechanics, and waveforms. Part Four, Topics in Mechanical Ventilation, covers issues such as airway management, aerosol delivery, and extracorporeal life support. Essentials of Mechanical Ventilation is a true “must read” for all clinicians caring for mechanically ventilated patients.

Medical Ventilator System Basics: A clinical guide is a user-friendly guide to the basic principles and the technical aspects of mechanical ventilation and modern complex ventilator systems. Designed to be used at the bed side by busy clinicians, this book demystifies the internal workings of ventilators so they can be used with confidence for day-to-day needs, for advanced ventilation, as well as for patients who are difficult to wean off the ventilator. Using clear language, the author guides the reader from pneumatic principles to the anatomy and physiology of respiration. Split into 16 easy to read chapters, this guide discusses the system components such as the ventilator, breathing circuit, and humidifier, and considers the major ventilator functions, including the control parameters and alarms. Including over 200 full-colour illustrations and practical troubleshooting information you can rely on, regardless of ventilator models or brands, this guide is an invaluable quick-reference resource for both experienced and inexperienced users.

A modern quantitative study of lung mechanics, relating mathematical modeling and engineering principles to lung function, structure, mechanics, and disease.

The New York Times bestselling author of Being Mortal and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies—neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third. In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds. An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

Now in paperback, the second edition of the Oxford Textbook of Critical Care is a comprehensive multi-disciplinary text covering all aspects of adult intensive care management. Uniquely this text takes a problem-orientated approach providing a key resource for daily clinical issues in the intensive care unit. The text is organized into short topics allowing readers to rapidly access authoritative information on specific clinical problems. Each topic refers to basic physiological principles and provides up-to-date treatment advice supported by references to the most vital literature. Where international differences exist in clinical practice, authors cover alternative views. Key messages summarise each topic in order to aid quick review and decision making. Edited and written by an international group of recognized experts from many disciplines, the second edition of the Oxford Textbook of Critical Careprovides an up-to-date reference that is relevant for intensive care units and emergency departments globally. This volume is the definitive text for all health care providers, including physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other allied health professionals who take care of critically ill patients.