Continuous Positive Air Pressure Machine:

• CPAP is a type of breathing machine that is

designed to help oxygen enter the lungs. CPAP does
not breathe for the patient.
• CPAP does help hold the lungs open to allow more
oxygen to enter the lungs.
• The CPAP machine is connected to tubing and a
face mask worn by the patient.
• Complications associated with CPAP include mask
discomfort, skin sores around the mask, and
bloating swallowing air.
 Breathing Bag (Manual Resuscitator)
• A breathing bag is a device used to tem help a
patient breathe.
• When a patient needs help breathing, a respiratory
therapist, doctor or nurse places the breathing bag
face mask over the patient's mouth and nose.
• A breathing bag is used for a short period of time.
If the patient requires help breathing for more
than a short period of time, a breathing machine
may be used.
 Bedside Monitor
• A bedside monitor is a display of major body
functions on a device that looks like a
television screen or computer monitor. The
monitor is attached to wires, called leads.
• At the other end, the leads are attached to
sensing devices attached to the patient's body.
• The sensing device sends electronic signals to
the monitor, which displays the readings for
the specific body function being monitored.
• The monitor is typically used when the doctor
wants to measure functions like the heart rate,
• respiratory rate, blood pressure and temperature
• All patients admitted to the ICU have a bedside
monitor attached to them. The bedside monitor
• is normally used the entire time a patient is in the
ICU.
 Brain Tissue Oxygen Monitor
• This is one way to measure how the brain is
working after a brain injury.
• A Brain Tissue Oxygen probe is placed into the
brain tissue of the unconscious patient. This
measures the amount of oxygen that is
reaching the brain.
 Capnography Monitor:
• A capnography monitor is a device that measures
carbon dioxide.
• A capnography monitor is used when the
patient's condition may affect the carbon dioxide
• levels in the blood. The capnography monitor is
attached to tubing near the end of the breathing
• or tracheostomy tube. The carbon dioxide values
from the capnography monitor are often
• displayed on the bedside monitor.
 Biospectral Index Monitor (BIS):
• Biospectral Index or BIS monitoring is a new way
of measuring how 'asleep' or sedated a patient is
in the Operating room or in the ICU. This
• machine picks up the electrical patterns of the
brain from a band that goes across the patient's
• head. This information is translated to a number
that indicates the patient's level of awareness.
 Resuscitation (Crash) Cart:
• The resuscitation cart contains all of the
equipment and medications needed for
advanced life support and CPR
(cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
• This emergency equipment is used only if the
patient's heart or lungs stop working.
 Intravenous (IV) Infusion Pump:
• An intravenous (IV) infusion pump is a
machine that carefully controls the rate at
which IV fluids and/or IV medications are
given. Intravenous (IV)
• infusion pumps are used as long as precise
control of the intravenous infusion rate is
needed.
• These pumps are very reliable.
 Dialysis Machine:
• A dialysis machine is a machine that cleans the blood of
toxins when the kidneys are not working. A dialysis
machine is used when a patient's kidneys cannot effectively
• clean the blood. The patient's blood enters the dialysis
machine and goes through a special filter
• that works like the kidney to remove fluid and toxins from
the blood. The use of the dialysis
• machine is termed hemodialysis. The dialysis machine can
be used for a short period of time
• or for a long period of time, depending on what is wrong
with the kidneys.
 Defibrillator:
• A defibrillator is a device that is designed to pass
electrical current through a patient's heart. The
passing of electrical current through the heart is
called defibrillation.
• A defibrillation is done through pads placed on the
patient's chest. A defibrillation is used to restore a
patient's heart rhythm to normal. Defibrillation
may be done using the manual
• defibrillator or the automatic external defibrillator
(AED).
Electroencephalograph (EEG) Machine
• An EEG machine is a device that measures the
electrical activity in the brain. The electrical
signals that come from the brain can help the
• doctor identify what is wrong with the brain. An
EEG machine is used when the doctor wants
• to monitor the electrical activity in the brain.
This machine is used when the doctor wants to
• see if the brain is functioning normally and to
monitor therapies that affect the brain.
• A Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) is a device
that takes over some of the function of the
heart when it is critically weak. It is most
commonly used while
• waiting for a suitable donor heart to be
available for transplant.
• Intra-aortic balloon pumping is a temporary
emergency measure to help the heart pump
more blood and improve blood flow to the
heart.
• An intra aortic balloon pump (IABP) is a device
that provides the assistance to the heart.
 Arterial Line
• An arterial line or arterial catheter is a small thin
plastic tube, similar to an IV catheter that is
inserted into a patient's artery.
• An arterial catheter allows the intensive care staff
to constantly monitor a patient's blood pressure,
which may be essential for the stabilization of the
patient's condition.
• An arterial catheter also provides access for the
frequent blood sampling a critically ill patient
needs.
Brain Stem Evoked Response Equipment

• Auditory brain stem responses evoked by

• stimulating the brain stem with painless sound
waves using headphones. These sound waves
• are received by the brain, and a machine is
used to test whether the brain stem has
received the
• signals.
 Pulse Oximetry:
• Pulse oximetry is the study of arterial oxygen
saturation, the amount of oxygen dissolved in
the blood.
• A pulse oximeter is the device that measures
and displays the oxygen arterial saturation.
• The device is usually place on the patient's
finger, earlobe, toe or nose.
• The pulse oximeter gives off light that
determines the oxygen saturation of the blood.
• A Central Venous Catheter (CVC) or Central
Line is an intravenous line that is used for
giving the patient fluids and / or medications.
• It may be used when the patient's veins in the
arms are difficult to access or when certain
medications or nutrients need to be given that
cannot be administered into the smaller veins
found in the arm.
Intracranial Pressure Monitoring (ICP):
• ICU patients who have sustained head trauma, brain
hemorrhage, brain surgery, or conditions in which the
brain may swell might require intracranial pressure
monitoring.
• The purpose of ICP monitoring is to continuously
measure the pressure surrounding the brain.
• The ICP monitor consists of a small plastic tube
connected to a bedside monitor, which continuously
displays the pressure surrounding the brain.
• The ICP monitor is usually inserted in the left or right
top-front part of the brain.
Pulmonary Artery Catheterization:
• Pulmonary artery catheterization is a
procedure performed to provide information
regarding the patient's blood circulation,
specifically the pressure and amount of fluid
or blood in the circulation and an assessment
of the pumping action of the heart.
 Chest Drainage Device
• The chest drainage device includes a chest tube
and a chest drainage unit. A chest tube is placed to
remove air or fluid from around a patient's lung.
• The chest drainage unit is attached to the chest
tube by elastic tubing that allows the air or fluid to
drain.
• The chest drainage unit may be seen attached to
the patient's bed or resting on the floor next to the
patient's bed.
 Colonoscope:
• A colonoscope is an instrument used for performing
colonoscopy.
• It is a flexible tube with an eye piece or video screen. The
instrument allows the doctor to see the inside of the large
intestine (colon).
• This procedure may be done at the patient's bedside, in
the gastrointestinal (GI) laboratory, or in the operating
room.
• With use of the colonoscope, the doctor can assess a colon
blockage, infection or injury, including injury to the colon
from a lack of blood flow (ischemia) or other diseases.
 Gastrostomy Tube:

• A gastrostomy tube is a flexible plastic hollow

tube placed into the stomach through the skin
overlying the stomach.
• The purpose of gastrostomy is to provide a
way to give patients food and medications.
 Tracheostomy Tube:
• A tube inserted into a temporary surgical
opening at the front of the throat providing
access to the trachea and windpipe to assist in
breathing tracheostomy tube is a small tube
placed in a patient's trachea (windpipe)
through the neck.
• The tracheostomy tube is an artificial airway.
 Nasogastric (NG) Tube:
• A nasogastric (NG) tube is a flexible plastic tube
that goes through the patient's mouth or nose
into the stomach.
• It is designed to remove stomach contents or
provide a route to give medication or food to a
patient who cannot swallow.
• The portion of the NG tube outside of the
patient may be plugged closed, connected to a
delivery device or connected to a suction device.
 Breathing (Endotracheal) Tube:
• A breathing tube is a plastic tube used during artificial
respiration, a procedure to assist a patient in breathing.
• One end of the breathing (endotracheal) tube is placed
into the windpipe (trachea) through the mouth or nose.
• The other end of the tube is connected to a breathing
machine (mechanical ventilator) or breathing bag
(manual resuscitator).
• The breathing tube provides an airway so that air and
oxygen from the breathing machine or breathing bag
can be provided to the lungs.
 Suction Catheters
• Suction catheters are long flexible tubes that
are used in intensive care
• to remove fluids from the mouth and airways
of critically ill patients. Critically a patients
often
• have difficulty with swallowing or coughing.
Removal of these fluids is important to ensure
• the lungs remain clear and the patient is able to
breathe properly.
 Liquid Tube Feeding Pump
• A liquid tube feeding pump is a specialized
pump designed
• to accurately deliver liquid tube feeding to a
patient. The dietician and doctor determine the
• amount of liquid tube feeding that a patient
needs for each day. This amount is entered into
the
• liquid tube feeding pump by the nurse.
 Gastroscope:
• A gastroscope is a special kind of endoscope.
• The gastroscope is a flexible plastic tube approximately
four feet long and one half inch wide.
• The gastroscope contains optic fibers with a light source
that allow the gastroscope to function like a video
camera.
• The doctor uses the gastroscope to see the swallowing
tube (esophagus), stomach, and part of the small
intestines (duodenum).
• The gastroscope also has a hollow channel or tunnel
throughout its entire length. The medical term for the
use of the gastroscope is esophago gastroduo
denoscopy or EGD.
 Endoscope
• Critically ill or critically injured patients may have or develop
problems with their swallowing tube (esophagus), stomach,
small intestine, large intestine (colon) or lungs.
• Doctors use slender flexible tubes with a lighted end to look
at these structures.
• The instruments are called endoscopes.
• The endoscope used to look at the stomach is called a
gastroscope and the endoscope used tolook at the colon is
called a colonoscope.
• A bronchoscope, used to view the lungs, is another type of
endoscope.
 Wound Drain:
• A wound drain is typically a plastic tube that
provides a way for unnecessary body fluids or
air to flow out of the body from a wound.
• After surgery, some patients require wound
drains.
• The purpose of the drain is to remove fluid
and/or blood from the area of surgery. This
helps the healing process.