#45 – The Anesthesia Machine with Ashley Scheil, BSN, SRNA

In this episode, which was originally released in April of 2019 on From the Head of the Bed… a podcast for the anesthesia community, Ashley provides an incredibly detailed run down of the anesthesia machine: the flow of gas through the machine, high, intermediate and low pressure system components in the machine, variable bypass vaporizer structure & function, relevant gas laws, safety systems & features and more! If you’re an anesthesia learner just hitting the ORs, this show will give you a detailed run down on what you need to know to use the anesthesia machine. If you’re a seasoned provider and clinical educator/preceptor, this show provides a wonderful reminder of core information on the machine so you can best support your learners. Ashley Scheil earned her BSN from Purdue University in 2012. She worked as a critical care Registered Nurse in the surgical ICU at the Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis for 6 years before going back to anesthesia school to earn her DNP at Marian University in May of 2020. Dr Scheil, DNP, CRNA practices at IU Health Arnett Hospital as of September 2021. Resources E – Cylinder Calculation Amount of oxygen in cylinder in liters divided by liters of flow: At full pressure (1900 PSI): 660 liters / 3 lpm = 220 minutes of O2. At half pressure (950 PSI): 330 liters / 10 lpm = 33 minutes of O2. Butterworth, J. F., Mackey, D. C., & Wasnick, J. D. (2018). Morgan and Mikhail’s clinical anesthesiology. McGraw-Hill Education. Miller, R. D. (2014). Miller’s anesthesia. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.  Nagelhout, J. J., Elisha, S., & Plaus, K. (2017). Nurse anesthesia. Elsevier Health Sciences.