Mitch Keamy is an anesthesiologist in Las Vegas Nevada
Andy Kofke is a Professor of Neuro-anesthesiology and Critical Care at the University of Pennslvania
Mike O'Connor is Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care at the University of Chicago
Rob Dean is a cardiac anesthesiologist in Grand Rapids Michigan, with extensive experience in O.R. administration.
Observation: Patient undergoes anesthesia with 1:1 constantly-present anesthesiologist/CRNA with ETCO2 monitored. Case ends; patient goes to ICU, often with continuation of the same anesthetic or neuromuscular blockade or gets put on an opioid infusion. The patient is now 1:2 to 1:4 or so nursing with no expectation of continuous nursing presence. But now ETCO2 is rarely done. How does this make sense? I propose that every intubated or trached patient in the hospital have mandatory ETCO2 monitoring and that it be recommended for any patient receiving oxygen. The technology is available; let’s use it for patient safety.
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