Surrey hospital gets cutting-edge respiratory screening

A team of four respiratory therapists at Surrey Memorial Hospital are working to boost patient outcomes by adding another level of screening for ventilated patients in the ICU. Aided by a Knowledge Translation grant funded by Michael Smith Health Research BC and Surrey Hospitals Foundation, the four are finding ways to know when it’s actually safe to take a patient off of a ventilator.

There is a test called the Spontaneous Breathing Trial, but even when a patient passes that, about one in five still end up needing to be reintubated, according to Fraser Health, leading to complications and longer ICU stays. 

“Most modern ventilators have a measurement called P0.1 monitoring in the background,” said Jaimie Trodden, clinical resource respiratory therapist at Surrey Memorial Hospital. “It lets us know how the patient is breathing and whether we are over-supporting or under-supporting them. By adding the P0.1 measurements to our routine patient monitoring, we believe we can better assess a patient’s drive to breathe, so that when we decide to take the endotracheal tube out, we’re picking the optimal moment when the patient will be successful.”

This new practice is now being rolled out in the adult ICU at Surrey Memorial Hospital, where Fraser Health says it will benefit hundreds of patients each year, along with the staff and medical staff who care for them.

“To support this change, we’re providing targeted education, quick-reference tools, and peer coaching,” said Jessica Lu, regional respiratory therapist educator. “Our goal is to make P0.1 part of everyday practice.”

Both Lu and Trodden, along with their KT teammates Scott Mattu and Sung Bin Choi, credit the Department of Evaluation and Research Services for giving them the knowledge to help change clinical practice.

“We received tremendous support from the research services team at Fraser Health,” said Lu. “It was my first experience with Knowledge Translation and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to help improve clinical outcomes not only in Fraser Health, but possibly, even pave the way for wider adoption in B.C.’s health system.”