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Rescue Me
Air Care Orientation Curriculum, Prehospital Medicine, Procedural Education Jeffery Hill, MD M.Ed Air Care Orientation Curriculum, Prehospital Medicine, Procedural Education Jeffery Hill, MD M.Ed

Rescue Me

Extraglottic devices are often term "rescue devices."  And I can't decide whether this is a term that glorifies or degrades.  While yes they can often save your tail after a failed attempt at direct or video laryngoscopy, they can do so much more. Running a code in a resource limited setting with 2 providers? The gold standard of 2 person bag valve mask technique ain't going to be an option for you.  And you think you can hold C-E mask seal while bagging for 20 min?  If you can, you must have hands that rival the late great Andre Rene Roussimoff...

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Decision is a Sharp Knife
Air Care Orientation Curriculum, Prehospital Medicine Bill Hinckley, MD Air Care Orientation Curriculum, Prehospital Medicine Bill Hinckley, MD

Decision is a Sharp Knife

In emergency medicine, EMS, and critical care transport medicine, I think we’d all (at least secretly) agree that there’s absolutely no greater joy than being able to say to ourselves, “That guy (or lady) is still walking the earth because of the care my team and I were able to give him (or her).”  I’m talking about the sort of patient that you bring back from the very brink of death with knowledge and skill borne of hard work and practice.

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Needle Cricothyrotomy
Air Care Orientation Curriculum, Prehospital Medicine, Procedural Education Mike Steuerwald Air Care Orientation Curriculum, Prehospital Medicine, Procedural Education Mike Steuerwald

Needle Cricothyrotomy

Circumstances rarely are such where we must perform a surgical airway emergently. When we do, it is always for the same indication: you have a patient that you can’t intubate AND can’t oxygenate. In most cases where a surgical airway is required, a traditional open or Seldinger technique is preferred.

In children, however, these approaches are contraindicated (most authors describe age less than 10 or so as the cut-off). Thus, the needle cricothyrotomy is a procedure that we must be prepared to perform as emergency providers as this can be done in pediatric patients.

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