Emergency Anaesthesia and Airway Management

Basic Airway Training in Emergency Medicine

The link below shoots to HETI’s collection of Core Revision materials on Airway Management.  These are a useful Resource for obtaining new skills, exam revision and continuing education post fellowship.  The following talks are created by Dr John Kennedy FACEM and Dr Alan Giles FACEM:

Airway Management

Procedural Sedation

The ‘Resuscitation Practitioner’ must be skilled and confident in managing all time critical situations including a variety of Airway Emergencies.  Skills required include both technical ability and crisis resource management.  An understanding of the basis of critical decision  making and cognitive biases is essential:

FACEM Exam – Airway Crisis Notes

The Trauma Airway

The Obstetric Airway

Airway Workshop

Our team recently conducted an Emergency Airway Management workshop.  Here is a link to the materials:

EmergencyPedia Airway Workshop

Airway Audit

Audit is an essential part of a better understanding of airway pitfalls and improving quality through maximising the chance of first pass success.  Here is the Airway Management Audit form for New South Wales:

PDF – ANZEDA Registry Form

Airway Checklists

An intubation ‘checklist‘ has become a mainstay of our Airway management approach in the last 3 years.

There are of course pros and cons to any new approach to a clinical procedure but there are a number of clear advantages of using a checklist for critical procedures such as intubation outlined by Tim Leeuwenburg:

• Reduced task fixation
• Improvement situational awareness
• Reduced cognitive overload
• Reduced stress
• Defined team member roles
• Improved team function
• Improved team communication
• Team understanding of potential complications and what they will be expected to do
• High-stakes procedures such as RSI are smoother and quicker when well practiced at using a checklist

Westmead Airway Checklist

PDF –  Westmead Airway

EMCRIT Checklist

Australian ED Checklist

HEMS Checklist

Emergency Preparation Checklist