This book covers the essentials of mechanical ventilation of respiratory care patients. It tells the whys and hows of ventilation management and clinical decision making, but does not cover specific ventilators. This book prepares the reader to make the correct decisions based on the patient's disease; as such it includes chapters on a dozen common specific diseases seen by RTs, and the new edition will include treatment algorithms. The second edition will grow by about 100 pages over the current edition and have about 20 more line drawings.The key features include: chapter objectives for each chapter; addition of treatment algorithms for each of the 12 disease management chapters; new chapter on non-invasive positive pressure ventilation for acute respiratory failure; new chapter on home mechanical ventilation; new chapter on high-frequency ventilation; new chapter on prone positioning; new chapter on nitric oxide and helium usage; new chapter on partial liquid and TGI; a second chapter on miscellaneous ventilator modes; and addition of a glossary.