Supraglottic airway devices are a mainstay of emergency management. They open the upper airway, allowing a person to breathe when there is an airway obstruction. Supraglottic devices such as the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) were once primarily used in surgical settings where a patient was under general anesthesia. Today, these devices are standard in many first responder’s kit because of their ability to quickly and safely secure the airway. When tracheal intubation or mask ventilation fail or become impossible to manage, a supraglottic airway can fill the void, preventing or treating serious respiratory emergencies. 

The call came in as a patient being unresponsive. You arrive on scene to find an elderly woman, hunched in her wheelchair, semiconscious, with labored breathing. She has a history of stroke, and by the drooping appearance of her left side, which her family states is not normal, it appears she has had another.

You and your team arrive at the scene of a house fire on a snowy winter night. As several firefighters help the family of five evacuate the house, you see thick clouds of smoke pouring out of the windows and chimney. You know it’s possible that several of the occupants have suffered smoke inhalation and will need to be diagnosed and treated immediately. 

Each new year comes with a new set of challenges for EMS teams, but some ongoing issues medical professionals faced in 2021 also serve as strong indicators for what’s to come in 2022. 

2021 was another unique year for medical professionals, as the pandemic stretched into another year, reminding us how important it is to keep up with changing health and safety information. 

That message resonates with SSCOR, because the products we produce often directly impact patient health and well-being. It’s also a big reason we like to keep our customers and friends in the emergency medicine sector informed through our blog.

As we look to 2022, these were the most-read blogs from the past year. 

We all know the key to a thorough patient assessment is to approach it systematically so that we don’t become distracted (by that bleeding scalp wound) or skip steps that may yield valuable information (like listening to breath sounds). There’s a reason we are all taught “head-to-toe” surveys: so that we work our way through essential assessment points, avoiding a haphazard exam where key signs are missed.

Every year, more than 60,000 Americans die from complications of dysphagia and other swallowing disorders–the most common of these is aspiration pneumonia. Traumatic injuries that cause continuous bleeding into the airway can also lead to aspiration. Even with treatment, aspiration has a high mortality rate because it introduces contaminants into the airway. Mortality estimates vary depending on the population studied, but are much higher in older, sicker patients.

Medicine is an ever-changing ecosystem. As technology improves, new equipment is created that performs better, is safer, and easier to use. However, some devices withstand the test of time and have been with us for decades and its design will be with us into the future, albeit with some modern touches.

You arrive at the scene of the accident, where it was reported a young man was struck by a pickup truck while crossing a busy road. Approaching the scene, it’s clear he has likely suffered significant injuries. The truck’s windshield is cracked, and the patient has facial trauma and splayed limbs. You immediately begin to inventory the situation and start assessing whether the patient needs to receive a spinal immobilization.