Introduction

Other aspects of preparation for intubation are detailed in the session on Rapid Sequence Inductions in the ED and will not be covered here.

Learning Bite

Difficulty with an airway must be recognised early.

It is vital that the practitioner recognises when he or she is having problems and adopts an appropriate management strategy immediately. The temptation to struggle on without calling for assistance must be resisted.

The Difficult Airway Society (DAS) has published multiple guidelines related to key issues in airway management, which are recognised and widely used both in the UK and many other countries. [14]

DAS recommends having a checklist with Plan ABCD when attempting tracheal intubation of critically ill adults. [14]

Learning Bite

All airway practitioners must have a simple algorithm for the management of the difficult airway and ”can’t intubate/can’t oxygenate (CICO)” situations.