Via practica 5/2015

Non-invasive way of securing airways

Managment and securing of airways in prehospital (out-of-hospital) care is an essential condition to ensure adequate ventilation and subsequent oxygenation. This article describes the causes of airway obstruction and non-invasive way of securing them. These include: 1) providing a simple airway maneuvers - without aids, 2) providing the airway with simple tools (oropharyngeal airway) and finally 3) providing a means of supraglottic airway (SGA) devices. The latter method (3) requires not only technical equipment, but also adequate skill. The first two methods (head tilt/chin lift and oropharyngeal airway) are recommended and effective for the needs of general practitioners.

Keywords: airways, throughput, non-invasive airway managment, simple maneuvers, oropharyngeal airways.