AboutStephen Bernhard Expertise I can assist with answering or finding the answers to questions involving CPR, basic life support, emergency first response, and general procedures of the emergency medical services (not specific to any specific organization, but I may be able to shed some light on why they do the things they do).
Experience Former Ohio police officer and EMT-Basic. Basic Life Support Instrutor-trainer affiliated with the American Safety & Health Institute and the Emergency Care and Safety Institute.
Expert: Stephen Bernhard Date: 7/14/2007 Subject: Oxygen delivery via ambu bag
Question Ok my question is, are ambubags effective at delivering oxygen to the patient when used passively (ie not bagging. Some people seem to think they are and have a better seal on the mouth and nose compared to normal o2 masks, others think the valve in the bag stops oxygen from reaching the patient if not actively bagging.
Answer Hi Anne,
While I can not give demonstrable proof (such as a study on this topic that coincides with my opinion, or a textbook entry on this method of use), I would generally concur that a BVM (Ambu-Bag) is not the best choice for passive oxygen delivery.
The reason for this opinion is not only due to the fact the the oxygen is stored (typically) in a reservoir at the rear of the BVM and not freely flowing, but also because the very design of the BVM is to deliver smaller amounts of air per ventilation with higher concentrations of O2 than a CPR mask.
Lower volume with higher O2 would mean that the pressure of oxygen is typically not as great circulating through the BVM until manual pressure is applied to administer the highly oxygenated air. Does that make sense? In short, my experience is that for passive delivery, a BVM is not a good choice.... Nor have I ever seen evidence to suggest so or to even use the BVM in this manner.
