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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · CPR and Resuscitation

Bag-valve-mask

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

nounCommon term

In emergency medicine & first aid, bag-valve-mask means: A hand-held device with a self-inflating bag and a face mask, squeezed to push air or oxygen into the lungs of someone who is not breathing adequately.

In Turkish: balon-valf-maske, ambu, BVM

How it is used

Often shortened to BVM. Staff talk about 'bagging' or 'bagging the patient'. It works best with two people, one holding the mask tight on the face and one squeezing the bag. Ambu is a brand name, but many people call any BVM an 'Ambu bag'.

Example sentences

  1. Pass me the bag-valve-mask and turn the oxygen up to fifteen litres.

  2. One of us held the mask while the other squeezed the bag-valve-mask.

Common collocations

  • bag-valve-mask ventilation
  • BVM
  • bag the patient
  • two-person BVM
  • rescue breathsBreaths that a rescuer blows into a person's lungs, mouth to mouth or through a mask, when that person is not breathing normally.
  • airwayThe passage that air travels through from the nose and mouth to the lungs; in emergencies, the question is whether it is open or blocked.
  • intubationPlacing a tube through the mouth or nose into the windpipe so that the airway is protected and a machine or bag can breathe for the patient.
  • CPRShort for cardiopulmonary resuscitation: chest compressions, often with rescue breaths, given to someone whose heart has stopped, to keep blood and oxygen moving to the brain.

More terms: CPR and Resuscitation

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.