Pitt Speaking Tube
ITEM NAME
- the Pitt Speaking Tube
USES
- the facilitation of speaking in the tracheostomized patient
DESCRIPTION
- non-fenestrated, cuff tube for continuous mechanical ventilation and airway protection with a port to direct airflow above the cuff to the larynx.
- when airflow directed through the larynx some patient are able to vocalize
- there is a tiny separate catheter running in a channel in the wall of the tracheostomy which opens on the cephalo-dorsal aspect of the tube -> proximal to the cuff.
- external aspect of the catheter is connected to a pressurized gas source
METHOD OF INSERTION
- see insertion of a tracheostomy
OTHER INFORMATION
- controlled airflow is delivered to above the cuff -> allow patient to vocalize
Critical Care
Compendium
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at the Alfred ICU in Melbourne. He is also a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University. He is a co-founder of the Australia and New Zealand Clinician Educator Network (ANZCEN) and is the Lead for the ANZCEN Clinician Educator Incubator programme. He is on the Board of Directors for the Intensive Care Foundation and is a First Part Examiner for the College of Intensive Care Medicine. He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives.
After finishing his medical degree at the University of Auckland, he continued post-graduate training in New Zealand as well as Australia’s Northern Territory, Perth and Melbourne. He has completed fellowship training in both intensive care medicine and emergency medicine, as well as post-graduate training in biochemistry, clinical toxicology, clinical epidemiology, and health professional education.
He is actively involved in in using translational simulation to improve patient care and the design of processes and systems at Alfred Health. He coordinates the Alfred ICU’s education and simulation programmes and runs the unit’s education website, INTENSIVE. He created the ‘Critically Ill Airway’ course and teaches on numerous courses around the world. He is one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) and is co-creator of litfl.com, the RAGE podcast, the Resuscitology course, and the SMACC conference.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Twitter, he is @precordialthump.
| INTENSIVE | RAGE | Resuscitology | SMACC