[Emergency anesthesia with halothane-air. Techniques; indications; limits].

A new apparatus for anaesthesia has been developed for disaster situations. A turbine pushes room air through a halothane vaporizer to a modified D. Mapleson system. A battery provides an autonomy of two hours with an air flow of 5 liters per minute. Electrical current used is 220 volts external or 12 volts. Oxygen can be added during inductions and when there is imbalance in the hemodynamic or respiratory function. One series of 20 patients successfully underwent this procedure. Oxygen monitoring was performed with percutaneous PO2, SaO2, FiO2. Only one patient with cardiac disease needed oxygen adjonction (2 l.min-1) to raise his SaO2 level above 95%. Thus it is possible to have the optimum FiO2 with the lowest amount of halothane and oxygen.