Heavy Lies the Helmet Episode 134 - Giving Patients Room to Breathe w/Melody Bishop (Part 1)
14 snips
Nov 21, 2025 
Melody Bishop, a critical care respiratory clinician, shares her expertise on mechanical ventilation. She simplifies complex concepts, emphasizing the importance of understanding respiratory physiology over memorizing settings. The discussion covers the Hamilton T1 ventilator, the myth about positive pressure and pulmonary emboli, and the role of PEEP in lung recruitment. Melody also touches on the significance of individualized ventilator settings and the cardiovascular impacts of positive pressure. It's a practical guide for clinicians seeking to enhance patient care.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Fundamentals Beat Complexity
- Understanding basic respiratory physiology (compliance, resistance, time constants, VQ, FRC) simplifies ventilation decisions.
- Melody Bishop says these fundamentals let clinicians tailor care beyond generic settings.
Check Compliance And Time Constants
- Assess compliance and resistance before changing ventilator settings to predict lung inflation and exhalation time.
- Use time constants to estimate how much exhalation time a patient needs.
Dead Space Is A Breath Tax
- Dead space is unavoidable 'tax' that wastes part of each breath and must be overcome by tidal volume.
- Melody Bishop emphasizes making breaths large enough to overcome wasted ventilation.