Continuous Patient Monitoring Provides Early Detection of Respiratory Compromise: Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Clinical Education Podcast with Dr. Jeffrey Vender

"There are numerous situations where patients with underlying pulmonary disease are in very chronic, but stable conditions. And, for a multitude of reasons, either a therapeutic intervention, the administration of pharmaceutical agents, in particular sedative agents and/or narcotics, as you've alluded to, or an underlying disease, like pneumonia, can make this stable respiratory condition and move it down the spectrum of patho-physiologic deterioration into respiratory compromise."

Jeffrey S. Vender, MD is Clinical Professor at the University Of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine. He is also Chairman of the clinical advisory committee to the Respiratory Compromise Institute.

The Respiratory Compromise Institute is a coalition of medical and safety organizations devoted to raising awareness about respiratory compromise. Members of the Respiratory Compromise Institute consist of representatives from leading medical and safety organizations:

• American Association for Respiratory Care
• American College of Chest Physicians
• American College of Emergency Physicians
• American Society of Anesthesiologists
• American Thoracic Society
• Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists
• National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists
• National Association of EMS Physicians
• National Association for Medical Direction of Respiratory Care
• Physician Patient Alliance for Health & Safety
• Society of Anesthesia & Sleep Medicine
• Society of Critical Care Medicine
• Society of Hospital Medicine

The Respiratory Compromise Institute defines respiratory compromise as "a potentially life threatening state of unstable respiratory health." Respiratory Compromise "is a gradual, subtle imbalance in patient response that encompasses respiratory failure and arrest, with symptoms that manifest differently in each patient."

Dr. Vender believes that "there's been a lack of understanding of how to monitor better, or to recognize better, those patients at-risk." He encourages clinicians to do "a better job of monitoring and understanding the drugs we use in those patients at risk, so we can reduce these complications."

To read a transcript of the interview, please click here.

The podcast with Dr. Vender may be viewed on the PPAHS YouTube channel by clicking here.

About Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety

Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety is a non-profit 501(c)(3) whose mission is to promote safer clinical practices and standards for patients through collaboration among healthcare experts, professionals, scientific researchers, and others, to improve healthcare delivery. For more information, please go to www.ppahs.org.

SOURCE Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety

Related Links

http://www.ppahs.org