Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in the calgary health region: a Canadian success story!

This article describes the experiences of a Canadian multidisciplinary critical care team striving to reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Several interventions, including a VAP bundle, were used and applied across a health region. Our regional VAP rate has seen a steady decline over the past 12 months and has been largely under our goal of 9.8 cases per 1,000 ventilator-days. The team's success in lowering VAP has provided the momentum for sustained improvement, which has spread to other areas.