Patients who experience lung injury are often placed on a ventilator to help them heal; however, if the ventilator volume settings are too high, it can cause additional lung injury. It is proven that using lower ventilator volume settings improves outcomes. In patients with acute brain injury, it is proven that maintaining a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood improves outcomes. Mechanical ventilator settings with higher volumes and higher breathing rates are sometimes required to maintain a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide. These 2 goals of mechanical ventilation, using lower volumes to prevent additional lung injury but maintaining a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide, are both important for patients with acute brain injury. The investigators have designed a computerized ventilator protocol in iCentra that matches the current standard of care for mechanical ventilation of patients with acute brain injury by targeting a normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide with the lowest ventilator volume required.

This is a quality improvement study with the purpose of observing and measuring the effects of implementation of a standard of care mechanical ventilation protocol for patients with acute brain injury in the iCentra electronic medical record system at Intermountain Medical Center. We hypothesize that implementation of a standardized neuro lung protective ventilation protocol will be feasible, will achieve a target normal partial pressure of carbon dioxide, will decrease tidal volumes toward the target 6 mL/kg predicted body weight, and will improve outcomes.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Acute brain injury due to non-traumatic causes (stroke, spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral edema, anoxic brain injury) or traumatic brain injury.
2. Initiation of mechanical ventilation in the emergency department or intensive care unit at an Intermountain Healthcare hospital
3. Age ≥ 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Transition to comfort care in the emergency department or on the same day of admission to the ICU
2. Death on the same day of admission to the emergency department or ICU

The intent of the investigators is to publish their experience with implementation of this protocol in the peer reviewed medical literature.