It was her second stroke in a year, and her daughter was doing the best she could, caring for her aging mother at home. The elderly woman had significant neural impairment, could barely speak, and had a stoma in place, which seemed to be doing little to ease her difficulty breathing. She had copious secretions bubbling up into her mouth and a rattling cough that wracked her slight frame. As the first responder, you automatically crank on your portable suction unit to try to ease her distress.

Emergency suction machines play a vital role in a hospital. Providing the ability to clear a patient’s airway at any location, these devices are potentially life-saving. This is particularly true for small hospitals that may not have in-wall suction available in all patient care areas.

You are transporting your 78-year-old patient for a CT scan. She has a history of COPD and has had a tracheostomy for several months. She normally has an effective cough to clear any secretions, but mid-transport, you notice that she starts seeming restless and agitated. Her pulse oximeter begins to alarm, and on auscultation, you hear rhonchi bilaterally. You suspect that she may need to be suctioned to remove a mucus plug. You flip the switch on the portable suction machine attached to the transport bed, and you hear... nothing. Even though the battery was charging for hours, your portable suction machine won’t operate.