Sooner or later, every first responder encounters a tactical medical scenario. These high-stress, high-stakes events demand a prompt and competent response. Some of the most common injuries include collapsed lungs, hemorrhages, airway obstructions, and emergency mental health issues. First responders themselves may also face dangers, so it’s important to plan to protect yourself, not just your patients. 

Air pollution is everywhere – in our homes, work environments and outdoor spaces – and the quality of the air we breathe has a significant impact on our short- and long-term respiratory health. Recent data from the American Lung Association demonstrates that, in 2022, more than 40% of Americans are living in places with failing grades for unhealthy levels of particle pollution or ozone. 

It’s a nightmare scenario, but if your hospital experiences a total power outage, you still need to care for patients. You might be able to navigate the darkened rooms with a flashlight and emergency lighting, but how will you oxygenate that ventilated patient? How will you suction them?

The code is going smoothly. Good CPR is being delivered, and IVs have been established, allowing you to give first-round drugs. And although you don’t have the patient intubated, your partner is bagging effectively, you have good chest rise, and the capnography waveform is textbook. Suddenly, the patient’s entire stomach contents erupt. The firefighter doing CPR is doused, the airway is now obstructed, and your perfect code is spinning out of control.

Early training in airway management usually focuses on easy cases. Even as you graduate to working on the difficult airway, classroom training can’t fully prepare you for the many challenges emergency care will throw at you. You may have to tend to patients who are angry and combative, manage delicate airways in frigid cold or dangerous heat, treat patients in unsecured settings, and help people with dementia, developmental delays, or severe mental illness to understand the process of airway management. These tips can help you maintain a patent airway even in challenging situations. 

Hurricane Ian brought widespread damage to the southeast U.S. and was the deadliest storm to strike Florida since 1935, causing at least 137 fatalities in its path across the Caribbean and the East Coast.

September is National Preparedness Month, a time to remember and spread awareness about the need for robust preparation in the event of a disaster or emergency. This applies to all, from families to businesses — and of course, health care organizations and providers.

Virtually every medical office worker, dental care provider, hospital employee, or first responder must use medical suctioning. Suctioning can be an important emergency intervention as well as a key aspect of routine care.

Suctioning a patient can maintain a patent airway, remove life-threatening airway obstructions, and prevent aspiration in vomiting or bleeding patients. But airway suctioning is not without risks, including changes in blood pressure. First responders must understand the link between suctioning and blood pressure to prevent both hypotensive and hypertensive states.