How Does an Ambu Bag Work?
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Bagging
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An Ambu bag is a valve mask that is used to help a person breathe who is not breathing or is breathing inadequately on his own. Ambu bags are hand-held tools used to ventilate a person's lungs. Using an Ambu bag in this way is called "bagging" a patient. Ambu bags self-fill with air, and can also be attached to oxygen devices to provide 100 percent oxygen to a patient.
Ambu bags are used by trained medical professionals. They are extremely effective in providing oxygen to the body and an essential part of a first aid kit and crash cart. They are also used in operating rooms to ventilate a patient until an automated ventilator can be used instead.
Procedure
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Ambu bags have three basic parts. A soft air chamber, sometimes called a "bag," is similar in size to a football and is attached to a face mask, with a valve in between the two. The mask is placed tightly over the patient's mouth and nose so that the air is forced into the lungs rather than leaking out of the mask. Sometimes one person hold the mask while another squeezes the bag.
As the air chamber (bag) is squeezed, air is forced through the valve and mask and into the patient's lungs. Then the bag is released and the air chamber self-inflates, drawing air from its surroundings or from an attached oxygen cylinder. At the same time, the patient's lungs will deflate.
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Easy to Use
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Ambu bags are often used in conjunction with chest compressions and are known to be much more successful at providing oxygen to the brain than CPR is. For that reason, first aid experts recommend that Ambu bags be included in all first aid kits in fire trucks and ambulances. Some recommend that schools carry them as well, and that teachers are trained to use them. To use an Ambu bag, place tightly over the nose as mouth as mentioned above in Step 2, then squeeze the bag one time every 2-3 seconds for a child, and once every 5-6 seconds for an adult.
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Resources
- Photo Credit www.ambu.com
