Simulation sessions offer take-home tips from the experts

Watch demonstrations of percutaneous tracheostomy placement, echocardiography, and more during the CHEST 2021 simulation sessions. In these nine sessions, expert faculty will walk through various patient case scenarios, ensuring that the skills presented will translate into your real-life clinical practice. The speakers will answer your questions in the meeting chat, as well as participate in live panel discussions for several of the sessions.

Airway Management in the Era of Severe Pneumonia
Sunday, October 17, 1:00 pm – 2:15 pm CT

Approximately 10% of emergent intubations can result in a failed airway. Management of airways in the era of severe pneumonia is further complicated by challenging physiology and need for further protection of the care team from transmission. Rapid recognition and management of the failed airway is essential to patient survival. Management of the failed airway in patients with severe pneumonia includes proper team planning, equipment and technique selection, and crew-resource management. As with any airway in the critically ill, core goals include periprocedural oxygenation and hemodynamic stability.

Bronchoscopy-Assisted Percutaneous Tracheostomy Placement and Troubleshooting
Monday, October 18, 9:15 am – 10:30 am CT

Tracheostomy is one of the common procedures performed by pulmonologists, intensivists, trauma surgeons, otorhinolaryngologists, and anesthesia specialists. This session will start with a tutorial highlighting the indications, contraindications, and possible short-term and long-term complications related to this procedure. The remainder of the session will be spent in case-based discussion on tracheostomy troubleshooting on topics such as bleeding, accidental decannulation, and inability to ventilate.

Managing Acute Respiratory Failure in Special Populations
Monday, October 18, 1:30 pm – 2:45 pm CT

This session will build on principles of mechanical ventilation in the care of patients with acute respiratory failure in the setting of cardiovascular/cardiothoracic, neurological/neurosurgical, pregnancy, and other unique populations that might not be commonly encountered for intensive care clinicians working in traditional medical ICUs. This course will focus on clinical decision-making using ventilator graphics, clinical clues, and other methods to address these unique populations. Conventional and non-conventional methods will be highlighted based on the evidence-based literature.

Thoracic Ultrasonography for the Pulmonary Consultant
Tuesday, October 19, 9:15 am – 10:30 am CT

Thoracic ultrasonography is a noninvasive and readily available imaging modality that has important applications in pulmonary medicine outside of the ICU. It allows the clinician to diagnose a variety of thoracic disorders at the point of care. Ultrasonography is useful in imaging lung consolidation, pleural-based masses and effusions, pneumothorax, and diaphragmatic dysfunction. It can identify complex or loculated effusions and be useful in planning treatment. Identifying intrathoracic mass lesions can guide sampling by aspiration and biopsy. Image interpretation will be performed through review of cases with live audience response interaction from learners.

Ventilator Graphics: “Fix the Vent”
Tuesday, October 19, 2:45 pm – 3:50 pm CT

This simulation-based session will focus on the understanding and management of ventilator graphics in the routine care of ICU patients. Faculty will provide brief clinical vignettes followed by video demonstration of ventilator graphics. The audience will then choose a response through polling software. This will be followed by an explanation of the correct answer and faculty comments of clinical correlations.

Advanced Critical Care Echocardiography
Wednesday, October 20, 11:15 am – 12:30 pm CT

The session will provide an overview of advanced critical care and then focus on a useful application: the measurement of stroke volume and its derived values. A brief introduction and demonstration of the essentials of echocardiography will be provided, followed by an in-depth demonstration of the measurement of stroke volume. Lastly, expert faculty will discuss stroke volume and advanced critical care echocardiography, and answer questions of learners.

On Demand Sessions

Integrating Awake Intubation Into Your Practice

This virtual course will demonstrate awake intubation methods in critically ill patients, highlighting important differences from a standard bronchoscopic procedure. Awake intubation is an important skill to manage patients with potential difficult airways based on airway exam or physiologic parameters. Learn the indications/contraindications, novel methods of preoxygenation/oxygenation during the procedure, and directed/topical airway anesthesia with localization of the appropriate nerves.

Pulmonary Care of the Pediatric Patient with a Long-Term Tracheostomy Tube 

This simulation-based course is designed specifically to provide basic and more advanced learning for clinicians managing pediatric or adult patients with chronic tracheostomy tubes with and without invasive ventilation including pulmonary clearance. Participants will develop further knowledge of the equipment required, management of emergency scenarios, airway clearance as well as ventilator management including choice of mode, setup, alarms, and basic troubleshooting. Airway clearance devices discussed will include the Mechanical Insufflator-Exsufflator, the vest, the Metaneb System, and the VOCSYN multifunction ventilator.

Acute Respiratory Failure: A Simulation Exercise 

This simulation-based session will focus on the understanding and respiratory management of the patient with acute respiratory failure beginning with community-acquired pneumonia to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Prerecorded clinical simulation scenarios will be presented along with commentary from faculty.