Anesthesia Bacterial/Viral Filters & HME Info
Effective immediately we will be using Bacterial/Viral Filters on EVERY anesthesia machine and transport vent. If we unknowingly have a patient in the OR who is infected with COVID- 19 and a Bacterial/Viral filter was not used the anesthesia machine MUST be removed from service for 28 days. The filters are kept in the anesthesia workroom and 2 are located in each code bag. Please refer to the photos for placement.
Dr. Connolly notes that the bacterial/viral HEPA filter easily saturates with water so beware that this may cause ventilation issues with your patient. “It has been noted as short as a 2-hour case, though today in my case, both filters (bacterial/viral and the standard HME) were saturated at 4 hours and needed to be changed during the case.”
To reduce any confusion and use of incorrect terminology please refer to the below photos:
Bacterial/Viral Filter
HME for 6+hr long cases
Standard HME (comes on circuit)
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