ed difficult airways, are a recent game-changing technology. Many
facilities don't stock their emergency airway cart with traditional
flexible intubation scopes because of cost concerns and, hopefully,
because the devices aren't often needed. However, the latest dispos-
able options can be bought for a fraction of what reusable scopes
costs. The disposable scopes also don't have to be cleaned and dis-
infected between uses.
5. Do you conduct annual drills?
Conduct regular difficult airway drills with staff and anesthesia
providers. There is no standard recommendation for how frequently
these drills should be held. I host difficult airway workshops at our
institution every 3 months and require my staff to complete it every 2
years. We go over stan-
dard information about
how to handle difficult
airway emergencies,
review the equipment
on the difficult airway
cart and touch on
other relevant guide-
line updates that are
beneficial for them to
know.
A difficult airway
drill requires full par-
ticipation from every
member of the surgical
team; nurses need to
retrieve the difficult
1 4 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 8
Troop Elevation Pillow®
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• Quicker intubation time =
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O.R. time management
• H.E.L.P. avoid a failed intubation
(cancelled case)
• H.E.L.P. avoid one airway mishap =
PRICELESS
• Optimal H.E.L.P. every time
• H.E.L.P. complements DL or VL
• Improved ease of breathing
•
intubation
Facilitates !rst pass successful
