A nebuliser is a piece of medical equipment that many people may have heard of or be familiar with. It’s carried by paramedics on land ambulances, but what you may not know is that our critical care crews carry another kind of nebuliser in their kit bags. It’s a small and unassuming piece of equipment that which can do something a little different when caring for a patient.
A standard nebuliser, carried by land ambulances, turns liquid medication into an aerosol of fine particles that can be breathed in directly, delivering the medication straight to the lungs. This matters most in respiratory conditions, asthma attacks being the most familiar example. In a severe attack, the airways tighten and breathing becomes a genuine fight. Getting medication into the lungs quickly can be crucial in preventing further deterioration and helping patients recover from a severe respiratory emergency.
This is where the nebuliser carried by our critical care teams can help. It uses vibrating mesh technology to produce a highly efficient and even more consistent aerosol that can improve delivery of medication to the lungs compared with many conventional nebulisers.
That’s not the only advantage. The nebuliser is quiet, which makes a real difference when we’re treating children who might otherwise be frightened by a noisy device on top of an already distressing situation. It’s compact, and it works for patients breathing on their own as well as those who are ventilated.
Just like your phone, tablet and other household devices, it runs on USB power and plugs straight into our Zoll patient monitors. These have hours of battery life – so there’s no need for our crews to charge the nebuliser separately before a mission. It’s carried in our red ‘Immediate Care’ bags, ready for use the moment it’s needed.
It’s not something that’s used by the crews every day, but for patients in the grip of life-threatening respiratory emergency, it’s the small piece of kit that can make a big difference, and it’s funded by the generosity of people like you.
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