RT Book, Section A1 Farcy, David A. A1 Petersen, Paul L. A1 Heard, Dennis A1 DeBlieux, Peter A2 Farcy, David A. A2 Chiu, William C. A2 Flaxman, Alex A2 Marshall, John P. SR Print(0) ID 55810282 T1 Chapter 4. Mechanical Ventilation T2 Critical Care Emergency Medicine YR 2012 FD 2012 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-162824-2 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=55810282 RD 2024/03/29 AB Understanding the importance of ventilator management is a crucial facet of emergency medicine. Emergency physicians are well known for their expertise in emergent airway management, but securing the airway is only a fraction of their role. Mechanical ventilation (MV) is an essential tool for critically ill patients. If not applied correctly, it can worsen the clinical course and increase morbidity and mortality.1 In the past two decades, our understanding of ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) has resulted in the challenging of conventional practices, such as using lower tidal volumes. With the current crisis of emergency department (ED) overcrowding, critical care patients have increased lengths of stay in the ED and, at times, are boarded for several hours or even days until a bed is available in the intensive care unit (ICU).2,3 The emergency physician must understand critical care topics and the intricacies of MV for heterogeneous patient populations with varying pathologies—no “single setting fits all.” With special consideration of each patient's needs, both patient care and outcomes will improve.