End Tidal Pause Protocol (PCA monitoring)

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Thu, 01/18/2018 - 15:00
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Kelsey Keeley
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Joined: 02/08/2017 - 18:57
End Tidal Pause Protocol (PCA monitoring)

Our institution recently went live with the Alaris PCA and end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) modules. We opted to implement the EtCO2 pause protocol (which will automatically pause the patients PCA when the RR drops below a pre-defined value).

We started out conservatively with an 8 bpm lower limit for adults. With this value, we have seen a lot of nuisance alarms and inappropriate pauses based on the actual patient presentation.

For those of you currently using the EtCO2 module, are you using the Pause Protocol? What limits are you using for adults? Have you seen a large amount of inappropriate pauses?

Thanks for your help!

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