This is a distillation of 10 key tips to help folks learning airway management to improve their skills. It’s also a framework for experienced providers to approach airway management from. This show gets straight to the point: 10 tips for airway management in 10 minutes.



10 Tips for Airway Management



1. Develop a growth mindset and practice deliberately



2. Do a good airway assessment



3. Develop and follow a plan



4. Control your environment



5. Position the patient and yourself for success



6. Preoxygenate adequately



7. Communicate effectively



8. Choose meds appropriately and let them work



9. Take your time with laryngoscopy



10. Recognize when you need to change your plan and do so deliberately



Chong, J. (2016).  Airway management in obese patients.  EMNote.  Retrieved from http://www.emnote.org/emnotes/airway-management-in-obese-patients



This is my personal ramp preference – a stack of blankets wrapped in one blanket (which helps with removing the ramp after intubation) and either a pillow or foam shay on top. Photo by Jon Lowrance.







Resources… delve in, read more:



Achar, S. K., Pai, A. J., & Shenoy, U. K. (2014). Apneic oxygenation during simulated prolonged difficult laryngoscopy: comparison of nasal prongs versus nasopharyngeal catheter: a prospective randomized controlled study. Anesthesia, essays and researches, 8(1), 63.



Booth, A. W. G., Vidhani, K., Lee, P. K., & Thomsett, C. M. (2017). SponTaneous Respiration using IntraVEnous anaesthesia and Hi-flow nasal oxygen (STRIVE Hi) maintains oxygenation and airway patency during management of the obstructed airway: an observational study. BJA: British Journal of Anaesthesia, 118(3), 444-451



Caputo, N., Azan, B., Domingues, R., Donner, L., Fenig, M., Fields, D., … & McCarty, M. (2017). Emergency Department use of Apneic Oxygenation versus usual care during rapid sequence intubation: A randomized controlled trial (The ENDAO Trial). Academic Emergency Medicine, 24(11), 1387-1394.



Chong, J. (2016).  Airway management in obese patients.  EMNote.  Retrieved from http://www.emnote.org/emnotes/airway-management-in-obese-patients



Dearani, J. A., Gold, M., Leibovich, B. C., Ericsson, K. A., Khabbaz, K. R., Foley, T. A., … & Daly, R. C. (2017). The role of imaging, deliberate practice, structure, and improvisation in approaching surgical perfection. The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, 154(4), 1329-1336.



Ericsson, K. A. (2015). Acquisition and Maintenance of Medical Expertise: A Perspective From the Expert – Performance Approach With Deliberate Practice. Academic Medicine, 90(11), 1471. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000000939



Ericsson, A., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.



Ericsson, K. A. (2004). Deliberate practice and the acquisition and maintenance of expert performance in medicine and related domains. Academic medicine, 79(10), S70-S81.



e Silva, L. O. J., Cabrera, D., Barrionuevo, P., Johnson, R. L., Erwin, P. J., Murad, M. H., & Bellolio, M. F. (2017). Effectiveness of apneic oxygenation during intubation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of emergency medicine, 70(4), 483-494. 



Heard, A., Toner, A. J., Evans, J. R., Palacios,