When your patient cannot mobilize and clear secretions on his own, you may need to suction his airway. Your method of suctioning will depend on whether the patient has an artificial airway and what portion of the airway needs to be cleared.

Medicine is an ever-changing landscape. As technology improves, new equipment is created that performs better, is safer, and easier to use. Yet, some devices withstand the test of time and have been with us for decades.

As an EMS professional, one of the most critical decisions you will make is when to secure an advanced airway. Airway decisions are crucial: they must be expedient, effective, and appropriate.

Today, paramedics have a range of options when it comes to advanced airways. With the advent of the Combitube and the King airway, there are alternatives to oral or nasotracheal intubation. Oral intubation using an endotracheal tube is still considered the airway of choice, but there are situations where nasotracheal intubation is the better alternative.

Medical suctioning can save lives, prevent aspiration, and reduce the risk of surgical and dental complications. But like all medical procedures, suctioning poses some risks, especially with a rushed or unskilled technique. 

Emerging evidence suggests that bariatric patients are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID illness. This means they may represent a disproportionate share of your patients during the pandemic. If you’re suctioning a bariatric patient, here are six complexities to consider. 

As COVID-19, the virus that causes the novel coronavirus infection, continues to ravage the world, medical providers have had to change virtually everything about how they practice. Suctioning a patient is no exception. Providers once only had to weigh the risks and benefits of suctioning to the patient. Now they must also consider how suctioning might endanger their own health, and how it might imperil subsequent patients if they become infected. 

Airway suctioning can generate dangerous aerosols that effectively transmit the virus. In emergency scenarios, Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination (SALAD) may offer a lower-risk alternative to traditional airway suctioning.