Airway (Assessment and management)

Question 1

What is the order of questions when assessing and managing a patients airway?

Answer 1

Is the airway patent?
Can the patient maintain their own airway?
Has the airway manoeuvre maintained the airway?
Has the airway adjunct maintained the airway?
Has the advanced airway technique maintained the airway ?
Has the alternate advanced airway technique maintained the airway ?

Question 2

How do you assess if the patients airway is patent ?

Answer 2

Look, listen and feel

Question 3

How would you clear a patients airway?

Answer 3

Suction or postural draining for fluid

Finger sweep or Magill forceps for solids

Question 4

What would you do if patient couldn’t manage their own airway?

Answer 4

Perform airway management
Head tilt
Jaw thrust in suspected c-spine

Question 5

What would you do if the airway manoeuvre didn’t maintain the airway?

Answer 5

Insert airway adjunct

OPA or NPA

Question 6

If an OPA or NPA didn’t maintain the airway?

Answer 6

Consider supraglottic airway

LMA or i-gel if appropriate

Question 7

What would you consider if a supraglottic airway maintain the airway?

Answer 7

Consider advanced airway technique
ET tube (only performed by advanced clinicians)

Question 8

What would be considered after Endotracheal intubation failure?

Answer 8

Consider needle cricothyroidotomy

administer high levels of oxygen

Question 9

What should you do if any advanced airway techniques are used?

Answer 9

Undertake a time critical transfer

Provide an alert / information call

Question 10

if any techniques are successful at maintaining the airway what should you do ?

Answer 10

Monitor airway and assess breathing