Airway Labs

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michael150

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Hey Everyone!

Has anyone done an invasive airway lab? As it has been outlined plenty of times on this forum, EMS education is extremely deficient in the US. Since I haven't intubated since the middle of paramedic school, I think it would be beneficial to maybe get some hands-on practice with a cadaver or an animal trachea. Does anyone have experience with airway labs where they retrain ETI and crics? What were your experiences (positive and negative)? Any companies or medical centers that you recommend? I've found one at Vanderbilt through the Emergency Medicine Department but just curious as to what else is out there!
 
Contact your local HEMS service and see if they offer anything. Many do invasive airway labs with pig trachs and such.
 
A good skills lab would be great, but if nothing else try to get into an OR on a busy day and practice basic airway maneuvers (masking) and intubating there, if at all possible. I know that isn't easy many places.
 
Teleflex spinsors a cadaver lab before most of the big conferences. Also, depending on where you are, you might be able to glom into an advanced airway class if there’s one near you.
 
Hey guys! Thanks for the responses, everyone. I would absolutely love to get into an OR and do some intubations and shadow an anesthesiologist. Unfortunately, there isn't a way to do that in my area. They don't even really allow FD medics that run 911 and since I am on IFT, I am more of a disadvantage in that area. We also do not have a HEMS program other than LifeNet and I am pretty sure that they get enough practice in the field because of the rural scene responses they have. I looked Teleflex and I will probably try to attend one of their labs sometime early next year if my schedule with school permits. I would really like to see something up in MN because Minneapolis would probably be the largest city near me to have something like that. "EMS is 10-15 years behind everyone else in Omaha" is very accurate in this instance. Training and CEU opportunities are scarce.
 
Just because the schools can't get in, doesn't mean you shouldn't try. A school administrator asking a hospital to allow students to funnel through is a lot different than a motivated paramedic approaching an anesthesiologist to help him improve his skills.
 
NPO said:
Just because the schools can't get in, doesn't mean you shouldn't try. A school administrator asking a hospital to allow students to funnel through is a lot different than a motivated paramedic approaching an anesthesiologist to help him improve his skills.
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Sadly, it actually becomes significantly more complicated when one isn’t attached to an EMS program and thus covered under a program’s training agreement and liability insurance.
 
It's quite rare to see anesthesia in our EDs around here. But having a good relationship with our EMS physicians has definitely gotten me a few airways in the ED when I was dropping off another patient. It's a good boost for the system when the other staff sees a paramedic successfully managing a tricky airway in an unfamiliar environment too!
 
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