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Ventillator Weaning Program
The Whittier Ventilator Weaning Program serves patients who have experienced respiratory failure following the onset of one or more disease entities such as:
• Acquired multiple system failure: Traumatic, vascular, infectious, neoplastic and surgically induced pathology
• Disease of the Central Nervous System (Brain or Spinal Cord)
• Myopathy and Muscular Dystrophy
• Other nerve or muscle disease
• Chest Wall Deformity (e.g., Kyphoscoliosis)
• Central Hypoventilation Syndromes
• Restrictive Lung Disease (e.g., Diffuse Pulmonary Fibrosis)
• Obstructive Lung Disease (Bronchitis, Emphysema, Cystic Fibrosis)
Program Objectives
• To provide goal-oriented, comprehensive inpatient restorative ventilator dependent
patient management.
• To minimize the patient’s reliance on mechanical ventilation thereby maximizing
“ventilator free time.”
• When complete weaning is not physiologically possible, our primary goal is to provide a mode of ventilation that is conducive to long term management and independence in the least restrictive environment for both patient and family.
Program Components
Dedicated VWP inter-disciplinary team including:
• Pulmonary Physician
• Internist
• Physiatrist
• Respiratory Care Practitioners (24 hour Respiratory Therapy Coverage)
• Physical Therapist
• Occupational Therapist
• Speech Language Pathologist
• Certified Rehabilitation Nurses
• Nutritionist
• Psychologist
• Psychiatrist
• Clinical Social Worker
• Case Manager
State of the art biomedical technology including:
• Computerized ventilators with pre-programmed special weaning modes.
• Portable ventilators to promote patient mobility.
• Non-invasive ventilation techniques including volume and pressure cycled equipment.
• Environmental control systems with a variety of patient activated switching devices.
• Specialized mechanical devices to promote airway clearance and reverse or prevent atelectasis including Intra-pulmonary Percussive Ventilation (IPV) and In-exsufflator (Coughalator).
• Cardiac Telemetry.
Patient, Family and Caregiver Educational Program
Individualized education in a variety of environments including:
• Apartment simulator
• Community simulator (The Whittier Way)
• Patient’s residence
• Long term care discharge venue if required
Admission Criteria
• Dependence on invasive or non-invasive mechanical ventilation.
• Tracheostomy tube in place for patients receiving invasive ventilation support.
• Secure feeding route such as gastrostomy tube in place.
• Hemodynamic stability as defined by program medical director on a case by case basis.
Pre-Admission Process
• Age 16 or older.
• Referral by physician, social worker, case manager or discharge planner.
• Comprehensive evaluation by admissions liaison.
• Family members are encouraged to visit Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital to meet
staff and become familiar with facility prior to admission.
Referrals Please Call (800) 442-1717
For a printable pdf version of this information please click this link.
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