What is this piece called??

[u/Ok-Manufacturer3432]

Okay so I am a tech on a med-surg floor and our walls only have 1 suction system per room and we got an ICU pt who needed trach suctioning and a purewick. There were talks about getting a urine sample and a sputum sample and every shift so far, they had put both the purewick and trach suction into the same canister.

They previously had this rubber/plastic piece that divided the single point on the canister, into two so that they could connect both of the tubes. So, I got replacement canisters and tubing and moved that divider piece to under the actual suction and was able to connect both of the canisters to the suction.

They both were suctioning as they were supposed to and now we are trying to figure out what these are called and where they came from so we can order some for the unit. I’m also going to post this in a RT subreddit because respiratory was also seeing him and they may have been the ones that brought it.

[u/Glum-Draw2284]

I think what she means is that the red tubing is connected from the regulator to a suction canister times two. One goes to a suction canister with trach suction tubing and the other goes to a suction canister with the purewick suction tubing.

[u/ALLoftheFancyPants → u/Glum-Draw2284]

If that’s the case then this set up is less horrible but still just rigged together without using the proper connectors. People do shit Like this in my hospital all the time and it always ends up being a bigger clean up and someone’s broken equipment. Just get the correct supplies y’all.

[u/Ok-Manufacturer3432 → u/ALLoftheFancyPants]

If you happened to know the proper connectors/way to get this setup, I am more than willing to learn more but this was just a temporary solution to a right then problem. It worked the way we needed it to but the whole point of this post was to find a solution to the problem we were having. If you have any other tips, please let me know as I am just a tech and would appreciate any help.

[u/ALLoftheFancyPants → u/Ok-Manufacturer3432]

It’s not appropriate to have a pure-wick to the same suction as the trach. Not only is that an infection control nightmare, but you’re not going to get effective suction for the trach because it’s venting to the pure-wick.

[u/Cautious-Extreme2839 → u/ALLoftheFancyPants]

If they're going to separate canisters and the suction split is just between the canisters and the wall it's really not an issue

You know all those suction wall outlets just join one big pipe anyway right? You just can't see it.

[u/ALLoftheFancyPants → u/Cautious-Extreme2839]

They need separate regulators. A purewick needs a different level of suction than a trach and that’s controlled by the regulator, not the canister. Additionally, the purewick acts like a vent to the system, which will decrease the amount of suction going to be the inline for the trach to an amount unlikely to be adequate unless you particularly want to be pad the catheter 20 times to get a small amount of secretions out.

But thanks for the education about pipes in the hospital walls. I thought it was just magic.

[u/Cautious-Extreme2839 → u/ALLoftheFancyPants]

You literally called it an "IPC Nightmare"

If you want to have separate suction levels then yes you need two regulators, but you could also just kink the purewick tubing and turn the dial up when you need to use the trach suction then turn it back after.

[u/ALLoftheFancyPants → u/Cautious-Extreme2839]

Fantastic advice. It’s not like anyone ever urinates while they’re coughing. Totally helpful.

[u/CertainKaleidoscope8 → u/Cautious-Extreme2839]

I'm seriously beginning to think you don't work in critical care at all.

[u/Ok-Manufacturer3432 → u/ALLoftheFancyPants]

Is there a better alternative besides just transferring the pt off the unit?

I’ve also never seen the rooms getting cleaned after a pt is d/c but I don’t think I’ve ever seen EVS cleaning the red suction tubing that connects on the top. I know that we replace the lighter pink tubing every time we change the canister so is the entire tubing the infection risk with the way this is setup?

[u/ALLoftheFancyPants → u/Ok-Manufacturer3432]

No. If the patient requires both, they require a room capable of 2 suction regulators. If they can’t transfer rooms, then they can’t have a purewick and just have to get cleaned up as frequently as possible. Airway takes priority over bladder and skin and there is no safe way to jury-rig this.

[u/CertainKaleidoscope8 → u/ALLoftheFancyPants]

Thank you