Michael Olympio, MD,
Chair of the APSF Committee on Technology and Co-Founder of the SIRS Initiative.

Figure 1: General Location of Ventilator Override Switch

Dear SIRS Making a Difference

Dear SIRS:

Recently, I was about 15 minutes into a case with the patient on the ventilator, and several alarms went off, all of the lights on the ventilator lit up, and "vent com error" came up on the screen, followed by the ventilator stopping. Although I am new to using this particular anesthesia system, I remembered reading your article and immediately activated the Ventilator Override button. I continued the rest of the case by manually ventilating the patient. The remainder of the anesthetic was uneventful, with no adverse effects.
HOWEVER, had I not read your article, there could have been a misadventure.

Thank you for your efforts.

James F. Meyer, CRNA
Sterling, IL