Ministry of Health

NZ Government

    
 ©Copyright
 Published: 29/11/2011

The Babylog 8000plus may occasionally alarm with a mesage "Frequency High!".  This will generally alarm when the ventilator recognises respiratory rates above the predetermined limit.  The alarm may trigger because the baby truly is this tachypnoeic, but it most commonly occurs because there is water in the ventilator tubing. This gives the sensor the signal that the baby is breathing when he is not, and the ventilator will auto-trigger.

The alarm limits for the "Panting" alarm are generally set at 100 breaths per minute.  DO NOT CHANGE THIS SETTING WITHOUT FIRST FOLLOWING THE STEPS BELOW.

• Immediately respond by observing the infant's respiratory rate in relation to the ventilator breaths being provided.
• Is it synchronised?
  • Note that on Pressure Support Ventilation (PSV), the baby will get assisted breaths at the rate the ventilator is autotriggering and will therefore appear to be breathing quickly.
  • Some babies on PSV will breath rapidly when first placed on PSV.  Generally they have also been breathing quickly on SIMV.  Give them some time to settle - if they are still breathing quickly, you may need to adjust your settings or find a different mode that suits.
• Is there water in the tubing?
  • This is the most likely reason for the rapid rate.
  • The waves on the respiratory function monitor will point towards this.  There will be a disturbed waveform on the pressure and flow waves.

  Pressure Wave form

  Flow Wave form

• Even a small amount of water can occasionally be enough to autotrigger the ventilator.
• If there is no water in the circuit and the alarm continues, seek advice.
  • One option may be to increase the trigger sensitivity

Other Ventilation Links