An apparatus for reversing inhaled anesthesia includes a filter for removing one or more anesthetic agents from gases passing therethrough, as well as a component for elevating CO2 levels in gases that are to be inhaled by a subject. The CO2 level-elevating component facilitates an increase in the ventilation of the subject without resulting in a significant decrease in the subjects PaCO2 level and, thus, a decrease in the rate at which blood flows through the subjects brain. A method of reversing the effects of inhaled anesthesia includes increasing the rate of ventilation of an anesthetized subject while causing the subject to inhale gases with elevated amounts of CO2 and while filtering anesthetic agents from such gases.
