Battlefield Anesthesia Delivery

COL Bill Giles, CRNA

I have just received notification that several anesthesia students have become followers of this blog.  For their education and enjoyment, this blog is for you.  As for the rest of you, bear with me.

The Ohmeda Drawover Vaporizer

The traditional device for anesthesia delivery in the FST has been the drawover vaporizer.  It requires no power, and is extremely portable.  It can be used to deliver any inhalation agent available today with the exception of desflurane.  Patients may be spontaneously breathing or controlled.  There is no rebreathing; every breath gets fresh gas.  Therefore, there is no CO2 absorption.  As you can well imagine, you go through quite a bit of agent, and quickly!  The advantage of this device is that changes in anesthetic depth can take effect much more rapidly than in a semi-closed or closed system.

Draager Narcomed M Anesthesia Machine

Our FST is fortunate enough to have a Draager field anesthesia machine.  This platform delivers anesthetic gases much as any machine used stateside.  It is compact and relatively portable.  We have no agent analysis in the field, but we can monitor ETCO2 via a Propaq monitor.  We use this machine as our primary device, with the drawover for our second OR bed.  As always, TIVA is an available option in our anesthesia armamentarium.

Of interest to the CRNA students is that in the TO&E (table of organization and equipment) of an FST, the only anesthesia providers listed are 2 CRNAs.  An MDA can only work in an FST if he/she volunteers to fill a CRNA slot, and has approved orders.  The US military recognizes quality, cost-effective anesthesia care for its heroes!

The views of this blog are those of the author only, and not necessarily of the US Army or the US Government.  None of the information given is classified in nature.