Conclusions and Key Concepts

Mechanical ventilation is an essential part of critical care transport. These patients are often the sickest patients transported, and they tend to destabilize during transport. Understanding the physiology of the respiratory system, principles of mechanical ventilation, and the effects of transport on the body is essential to good ventilation management. Additionally, clinicians should be familiar with evidence-based principles of optimizing mechanical ventilation to improve outcomes in a wide variety of patients.