Let's face it: Pediatric patients can be intimidating. They're small, they cry a lot, they require different medication dosages, and, fortunately, we don't run into them with great frequency.

In the event of a pandemic or other health emergency, hospital emergency departments and intensive care units can become overwhelmed. Doctors, nurses, and medical personnel are being asked to go above and beyond to protect patients — and to do it quickly.

Airway obstructions are common and potentially lethal emergencies, especially among vulnerable populations such as children and geriatrics. Obstruction from a foreign body is the most common airway obstruction in young children. Among geriatrics, obstructive airway diseases, dysphagia, and aspiration are more prevalent. The odds of airway obstruction increase with age. One study of geriatric patients found that at least 10% of seniors who undergo spirometric studies may have an airway obstruction.

It’s important to regularly reevaluate your team’s knowledge of common bleeding disorders, their symptoms, and the unique challenges they present for EMS personnel during airway suctioning and treatment.

Here are a few questions for all you paramedics out there: When was the last time you decompressed a tension pneumothorax? How many surgical airways have you performed? Have you ever delivered a baby in the prehospital setting? And how many times have you performed a rapid sequence intubation?

Flight medics face some of the highest job stress levels of any first responders, often responding to patients for whom seconds matter. In this rapidly changing environment, diligent airway management is critical, particularly for trauma survivors, neonates, and people with serious respiratory health conditions.

The quality of care you can provide patients is inseparable from the quality of the devices you have available. After all, it doesn’t matter how knowledgeable you are about choking if you can’t clear a patient’s airway.

It was the third vehicle crash of the shift. The first two were minor – low-speed fender benders with minor injuries. This one was different: a high-speed impact involving an unrestrained driver. The facial injuries were extensive.

It’s projected that by 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 or older, and the number of geriatric patients will only increase as medicine and science continue to advance and improve life expectancy. 

In the field of EMS, maintenance is critical. Our trucks must be kept in good working order, our drugs must be up to date, and even our knowledge base must be tweaked regularly to ensure we keep up with new trends in the field and keep our skills sharp.