NHSN Ventilator-Associated Event (VAE)
Applies the NHSN ventilator-associated event algorithm and returns its tier.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- At least two calendar days of stable or decreasing daily minimum settings
- Yes
- Baseline daily minimum FiO2, percent
- 40 %
- Baseline daily minimum PEEP, cmH2O
- 5 cmH2O
- Event daily minimum FiO2, percent
- 65 %
- Event daily minimum PEEP, cmH2O
- 5 cmH2O
- The rise was sustained for at least two calendar days
- Yes
- Temperature above 100.4 F or below 96.8 F
- Yes
- A NEW antimicrobial started and continued for at least four calendar days
- Yes
Result: an infection-related complication on a daily minimum FiO2 rise of 25 points
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- VAC
- After at least two calendar days of stable or decreasing daily minimums, a rise of at least 20 points in daily minimum FiO2 or 3 cmH2O in daily minimum PEEP, sustained two calendar days.
- IVAC
- A ventilator-associated condition plus an abnormal temperature or white count, and a NEW antimicrobial started and continued at least four calendar days.
- PVAP
- An infection-related complication plus a qualifying microbiological criterion. Possible ventilator-associated pneumonia is a surveillance tier, not a diagnosis.
- No radiograph
- This algorithm replaced ventilator-associated pneumonia for adult surveillance and uses no chest radiograph and no clinical judgment at any step, deliberately.
- Daily minimum
- Every threshold is on the daily minimum, not on any value recorded that day. A transient rise during a turn or a suction does not start an event.
- The PEEP floor
- A PEEP below 5 is treated as 5 in the comparison. Without that floor a change from 0 to 3 would read as a qualifying rise, and it is not one.
What you enter
- At least two calendar days of stable or decreasing daily minimum settings
- Baseline daily minimum FiO2, percent
- Baseline daily minimum PEEP, cmH2O
- Event daily minimum FiO2, percent
- Event daily minimum PEEP, cmH2O
- The rise was sustained for at least two calendar days
- Temperature above 100.4 F or below 96.8 F
- White cell count at or above 12,000 or at or below 4,000 per cubic millimeter
The other 2 fields
- A NEW antimicrobial started and continued for at least four calendar days
- A qualifying microbiological criterion is met
How this is calculated
CDC National Healthcare Safety Network. Ventilator-Associated Event (VAE) Protocol. NHSN Patient Safety Component Manual, Chapter 10. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.