Health Sciences · Hospital for Sick Children
A short, curved length of dark rubber hose with a corrugated surface. The hose has metal connectors at either end that have a metallic finish. At one end of the hose, the metal connector has several grooves around its circumference and terminates in a small frame consisting of two loops arranged perpendicular to each other. This end is for attaching a flexible squeeze bulb with the frame preventing the bag from kinking and blocking respiration.
The opposite end terminates in a metal connector, a modified Noseworthy connection. This curves 90° away from the centre of the tube. Part of this metal component, a small metal tube, extends backwards opposite the main opening. This is an oxygen inlet. There is a yellow band around the bend in the metal connector, and a second band near where the connector joins the rubber tube.
The rubber tube has become stiff and brittle with age.
Accession Number: 2025.sk.35
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Metal, Rubber.
Engraved on a flat portion of the rim of the metal band near the mouth of the connector with the curves 90° bend: “MIE London”
Dimensions (cm): Height = 10, Width = 3, Length =20.
Bag-Valve-Mask Ventilation (BVM) ventilation is a form of mechanical ventilation in which the patient with inadequate or absent respiration is assisted using positive pressure from a squeeze bulb. This can be supplemented with a supply of oxygen. The procedure is regularly used in medical emergencies.
This is a piece of the overall apparatus. The squeeze bulb, mask, and oxygen tubing are missing.
The rubber hose is stiff and brittle with fine cracks along its surface. The protective finish of the metal ends is worn resulting in spots of green corrosion.
Associated Instruments:
Medical Industrial Equipment Limited (M.I.E). London, England.
Date of Manufacture:
Provenance:
Sylvère Hugonnot, Abdo Khoury, Johan Cossus, Alban De Luca, Thibaut Desmettre, Fatimata Seydou Sall, and Gilles Capellier. (2014). “From Mouth-to-Mouth to Bag-Valve-Mask Ventilation : Evolution and Characteristics of Actual Devices—A Review of the Literature.” Edited by Peter Cameron. BioMed Research International 2014 (2014): 1–6.
Bag-Valve-Mask Ventilation was invented in the 1950s by the German doctor Holger Hesse and Danish anesthetist Henning Ruben. It remains a standard procedure (see Hugonnot et al. 2014).
The apparatus to which this hose belonged was referred to at Sick Kids Hospital as and “MIE”. This is a reference to the manufacturer, Medical Industrial Equipment Limited of London, England, which was a major supplier of anesthesia equipment to British and commonwealth hospitals.