PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Fábio Ferreira Amorim AU - Fábio Henrique Monteiro Oliveira AU - Carlos Humberto Llanos AU - Guillermo Alvarez Bestard AU - Sérgio Henrique Evangelista AU - Rodrigo Rocha AU - Lumie Sabanai Shintaku AU - Julia De Sá Kanbay AU - Alessandra Maia Freire AU - Lícia Zanol Lorencini Stanzani AU - Fernando Viegas Do Monte AU - Sanderson Cesar Macedo Barbalho TI - Health care professionals' perceptions regarding the challenges of mechanical ventilation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic AID - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2021.PA3771 DP - 2021 Sep 05 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - PA3771 VI - 58 IP - suppl 65 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/suppl_65/PA3771.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/58/suppl_65/PA3771.full SO - Eur Respir J2021 Sep 05; 58 AB - Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought further evidence for the limited capacity of health systems to respond to demands. One of the critical factors is the demand for mechanical ventilation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Objective: To evaluate health care professionals' perceptions regarding the challenges faced in mechanical ventilation management during the COVID-19 pandemic in Federal District, Brazil.Results: 45 responses were received: 19 from the physicians (42.2%) and 26 from respiratory physiotherapists (57.8%). The mean age was 35±8 years and 62.2% female (n=28). The main challenges reported were having a team with adequate knowledge of mechanical ventilation (n=26, 57.8%), difficulty maintaining adequate sedation (n=25, 55.6%), and minimizing asynchrony (n=22, 48.9%). It is worth noting that factors that were of great concern at the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil were little reported by the health professionals, such as lack of mechanical ventilators (n=2, 4.4%) and excess of mechanically ventilated patients (n=10, 22.2%). Another aspect was the greater use of the prone position, with only five professionals reporting difficulties with its use (11.1%)Conclusion: The biggest challenges reported by professionals in mechanical ventilation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic were having a team with adequate mechanical ventilation knowledge, maintaining adequate sedation, and asynchrony. The excess of patients in mechanical ventilation and the lack of mechanical ventilators were aspects less mentioned by the professionals in the Federal District, Brazil.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2021; 58: Suppl. 65, PA3771.This abstract was presented at the 2021 ERS International Congress, in session “Prediction of exacerbations in patients with COPD”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).