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Video Laryngoscopy in the Field? Absolutely
Close your eyes... actually open them up, you won't be able to read the description if you close your eyes... Imagine you are on flying on the helicopter for a scene flight. You land and are brought to the patient, a victim of a motorcycle accident who is clearly in need of an airway. He is obtunded with sonorous respirations, a GCS of 6, O2 sats in the low 90's. You start to look and assess the patient's airway and you are decidedly less than pleased.
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...
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.