DIY Anaesthesia Systems

A ‘Vaporiser’ for Open/Semi-Open Ether

In the absence of a Schimmelbusch mask a wire mesh tea-strainer can be used to ‘carry’ several (eg 10 - 12) layers of gauze, onto which the ether is dripped.

A little more sophisticated device can be made using appropriately-sized food cans to construct a chimney-style vaporiser - 2 cans for each ‘vaporiser’ each with the ends removed.

For example, for an adult female:

• can 1: ~ 90 mm diameter and ~ 60 mm height with 3 - 4 airholes ~ 7 mm diam
• can 2: ~ 85 mm diameter and ~ 90 mm height

The gauze (10 - 12 layers) is placed across the top of the larger can and the smaller one is pushed into the larger can and thus holds the gauze in place.Some form of soft ‘interface’ between the skin and the metal is fashioned - foam material or cloth etc.

The ether is dripped onto the gauze.

REFERENCE

• TB Boulton ANAESTHESIA 1966 21/4 p 513 - 545

Draw-over Vaporiser using a Glass Jar

The jar:

• for ether ~150 mm high x ~75 mm diameter
• for halothane ~90 mm high x ~55 mm diameter

Two holes are made in the lid of the jar ~12 mm diameter. Through one hole a length of tubing is placed for the patient breathing tube. Through the other enters air and also supplementary oxygen if available (via a small bore tube).

A “water bath” in which to stand the jar provides thermal buffering. (This is not necessary for agents other than ether.)

A T-piece in the patient tube, with a means of closure, allows when open an approximate halving of delivered concentration.

A bellows or self-inflating bag and a one-way valve (eg AMBU) at the patient end of another length of tubing, completes the breathing system.

REFERENCES:

• T B Boulton ANAESTHESIA 1966 21/4 p513 - 545
• PRIMARY ANAESTHESIA Ed. Maurice King Oxford University Press 1986 p 83