Medical Ventilator System Basics: A clinical guide—unlike books that focus on clinical applications, or that provide specifics about individual ventilator models, this is a practical guide about the equipment used for positive pressure mechanical ventilation. This book provides the information a clinician needs every day: how to assemble a ventilator system, how to determine appropriate ventilator settings, how to make sense of monitored data, how to respond to alarms, and how to troubleshoot ventilation problems. The book applies to all ventilators based on the intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) operating principle. In a systematic and comprehensive way, the book steps the user through the ventilator system, starting with its pneumatic principles to an explanation of the anatomy and physiology of respiration. It describes the system components, including the ventilator, breathing circuit, humidifier, and nebulizer. The book then introduces ventilation modes, starting with an explanation of the building blocks of breath variables and breath types. It describes the major ventilator functions, including control parameters, monitoring, and alarms. Along the way the book provides much practical troubleshooting information. Clearly written and generously illustrated, the book is a handy reference for anyone involved with mechanical ventilation, clinicians and non-clinicians alike. It is suitable as a teaching aid for respiratory therapy education and as a practical handbook in clinical practice.