A control system for automatically integrating the operation of a ventilator (24), a medical device (26) and a monitoring device (20) is described. The system comprises a control unit (29) in communication with the ventilator and operable to modify the operation of the ventilator, the medical device and the monitoring device. A communication link (30) is provided between the control unit and the monitoring device such that the control unit can communicate with the monitoring device through the communication link. A communication link (34) is also provided between the control unit and the medical device such that the control unit can communicate with the medical device through this communication link. This enables the control unit to be operable to coordinate the operation of at least two of the monitoring device, the medical device and the ventilator.
