What is Ventilator? What are some common Types of Ventilators

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Ventilator: Medical equipment that most people have heard about. It is one of the most common tools in critical care, often seen in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Healthcare professionals use ventilators for patients who have difficulty breathing on their own.


So, for students who aim to head into the critical care environment, learning about ventilators and taking care of patients with artificial airways is crucial.


Let’s learn about ventilators in detail.

What Do Ventilators Do?

A ventilator is a device that supports or recreates the process of breathing by pumping air into the lungs.  Additionally, a ventilator: 

  • Helps remove carbon dioxide from your lungs.

  • Provides pressure to keep the small air sacs in your lungs (alveoli) from collapsing.

The ventilator is used in scenarios where patients experience respiratory failure. When this occurs, a person cannot get enough oxygen, which can be life-threatening.

The following are the injuries that cause respiratory failure:


  • Sudden cardiac arrest

  • Lung disease

  • Spinal cord injury

  • Head injury

  • Stroke

  • Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome

  • Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)

  • Sepsis and more.


Remember: Patients with different causes of respiratory failure require different ventilators. So, it is also essential to know about its various types.

Some Common Types of Ventilators

  1. Pressure-limited assist control (PAC) ventilation

PAC ventilation is a type of mechanical ventilation mode that delivers a breath to the patient based on a pre-set inspiratory pressure (IP) limit. The ventilator will continue to deliver gas until a set pressure is reached, ensuring a breath is delivered regardless of the patient's lung resistance or compliance.

How it works:

  • The patient initiates a breath effort, triggering the ventilator.

  • The ventilator delivers gas flow until the set inspiratory pressure limit is reached.

  • The ventilator then cycles off to allow for exhalation.

  • The patient can breathe spontaneously between ventilator breaths.


  1.  Synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV)

SIMV ventilation is a mode that combines mandatory breaths delivered by the ventilator at a set rate with the patient's spontaneous breathing efforts.

How it works:

  • The ventilator delivers a set number of breaths per minute (rate) regardless of whether the patient initiates a breath or not (mandatory breaths).

  • The ventilator synchronizes the delivery of mandatory breaths with the patient's spontaneous breaths whenever possible.

  • The patient can also breathe spontaneously between mandatory breaths.


  1. Volume-limited assist control (VAC) ventilation

VAC ventilation is a mode that delivers a pre-set tidal volume (VT) to the patient with each breath. The ventilator will cycle off to exhalation once the set VT is delivered, regardless of the pressure reached.

How it works:

  • The patient initiates a breath effort, triggering the ventilator.

  • The ventilator delivers a set volume of gas (VT) into the lungs.

  • The ventilator then cycles off to allow for exhalation, even if the set pressure limit is not reached.

  • The patient can breathe spontaneously between ventilator breaths.


Above, we tried to give a basic idea about ventilators and their types; if you want to get more detailed information, including the resources, enrol in the Online Critical Care Course created by DigiNerve.

About  Critical Care Training Program


The course is designed for students and healthcare professionals to make Critical Care Medicine practices easy to understand. 

Learners will get a chance to dive into a range of critical care topics, including resuscitation, trauma management, hemodynamic instability, neurological emergencies, and sepsis management.

Though understanding the basics of such critical topics is challenging, but esteemed Chief Editors Dr. Yatin Mehta, Dr. Subhal Dixit, and Dr. Kapil G Zirpe at DigiNerve have put their best efforts into compiling all the resources that can make complex topics easy to understand.

The Critical Care Training Program combines theoretical knowledge, case studies, and interactive learning activities that help participants enhance their skills and competencies in managing critically ill patients.

The best part is that candidates will receive Critical Care Certification Online after completing the course.

So, don’t wait anymore; visit DigiNerve Now to get more details about the course to start early.


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