Procedure station:
Candidates were provided the scenario below and and were required to demonstrate their ability with dealing with a blocked ET tube.
You are called urgently to see a 67 year old, 50kg man who is being ventilated in ICU for severe pneumonia. The nurse says his ventilator is constantly high pressure alarming.
Please manage his ventilation problem.
NOTE: the nurse is familiar with the ventilator and can tell you any parameters you wish to know and will adjust the ventilator for you
Disclaimer: the viva stem above may be an original CICM stem, acquired from their publicly available past papers. Or, perhaps it is a slightly altered version of the original CICM stem. Or, it is a completely original viva stem, concocted by the monstrously amoral author of Deranged Physiology for nothing more than his own personal amusement. In either case, because the college do not make the main viva text or marking criteria available, almost everything here has been confabulated. It might sound like a plausible viva and it could be used for the purpose of practice, but all should be aware that it does not represent the "true" canonical CICM viva station.