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W
hen a difficult airway strikes, there's no time to waste hunting down
needed tools and supplies. A well-stocked airway cart should contain:
• Rigid laryngoscope blades of alternate design and size from those
routinely used.
• Endotracheal tubes of assorted size.
• Endotracheal tube guides. Examples include (but are not limited to) semi-rigid
stylets with or without a hollow core for jet ventilation, light wands and forceps
designed to manipulate the distal portion of the endotracheal tube.
• Fiberoptic intubation equipment.
• Retrograde intubation equipment.
• At least one device suitable for
emergency non-surgical airway
ventilation. Examples include
(but are not limited to) a transtra-
cheal jet ventilator, a hollow jet
ventilation stylet, the laryngeal mask and the
esophageal tracheal com-
bitube.
• Equipment suitable for emer-
gency surgical airway access
such as a cricothyrotomy.
• An exhaled CO
2
detector.
— Anthony J. Chipas,
PhD, CRNA
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