OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the peak inspiratory pressure and the ventilation rate obtained by paramedics of the Fire Department of Brasília, Brazil, when using a neonatal self-inflating bag on a preterm lung model. METHODS: Descriptive observational study including 31 volunteers, from 68 paramedics invited, who were components of two groups of the Fire Department's Continuous Training Program. For three minutes, the paramedics ventilated an analogical simulator of preterm infant lung using a neonatal self-inflating bag. The peak inspiratory pressure and the respiratory rate were captured by a pneumotachograph and a graphical monitor of ventilation. Data were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: Mean peak pressures in cmH2O for test lung were 14.6±8.2, being less than 20 in 77.4% of the analyzed pressure curves, more than 40 in 3.2%, and between 20 and 40cmH2O in 19.4% of the curves. Mean ventilation rates were 38.3±10.3 cycles per minute, being less than 40 in 51.6% of the analyzed pressure curves, more than 60 in zero, and between 40 and 60 in 48.4%. In no occasion the pressure reached 60 cycles per minute. CONCLUSIONS: The paramedics, most of the time, did not achieve the advised minimum level of ventilation pressure and ventilation rates recommended by international guide lines during ventilation of a neonatal lung model with a self-inflating bag
cardiopulmonary resuscitation; pulmonary ventilation; respiration, artificial; infant, premature
