As a foundational tool in the basic airway management toolkit, bag valve mask ventilation can save lives, relieve patient stress, and make transport easier. Bag valve mask ventilation is appropriate when a patient shows signs of hypoxic respiratory failure, apnea, or hypoxically induced altered mental states. Patients who are hyperventilating or have sustained injuries that reduce respiratory effort may also require ventilation. It may be appropriate to ventilate women in labor when there is reason to believe that they are not getting adequate oxygen or are so fatigued that breathing becomes difficult.

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. 

Upper airway obstructions affect the trachea, pharynx, or larynx. Though partial obstructions can be painful, complete obstructions can be life-threatening. Without treatment, they can quickly prove fatal.

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.

We all know that treating pediatric patients is nothing like treating adults. For one thing, young patients tend to add an additional element of stress to any emergency. The infrequency with which emergency personnel treats pediatrics usually equates to less assurance and more anxiety. Children also require a separate set of drug dosages, which can be difficult to memorize when used so infrequently.

About 1 in 8 non-traumatic emergency visits were due to respiratory distress, per a 2014 study. Among patients with respiratory health issues or emergent trauma, the figure may have been even higher. Assessing respiratory status is a core component of emergency and trauma care, as well as medical intake. Even when respiratory distress is not the presenting issue, it may be a complicating factor.

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.