Although many first responders express reservations about airway suctioning, suctioning the airway is a potentially life-saving procedure that, when correctly performed, has a low risk of complications. With cold and flu season reaching its crescendo and allergy season just around the corner, now is a great time for first responders to brush up on their airway management skills. Continuing education classes and regular drills can prepare you to manage even difficult airways. It’s equally important to be mindful of the most common complications of suctioning. Awareness of these common complications can guide your technique while encouraging your team to remain vigilant and diligent.

Your team’s airway management is only as good as its medical suction units. Diligent practice, exceptional technique, and skillful assessments cannot compensate for a medical suction unit that does not work well. Sometimes fixing suction issues is a simple matter of better storage or keeping an extra battery on hand. In other cases, such as those detailed below, it may be time to replace your suction device.

In prehospital and emergency settings, oral suctioning may be overlooked as a basic task that is performed without harm to the patient. The reality is, oral suctioning is not without its risks and complications. In addition to complications related to the procedure itself, oral suctioning complications may arise because of ineffective or incorrect technique. Let’s explore the various oral suctioning procedure complications and discuss ways you can prevent them in your patients.

Invented in 1907 by Dr. Sidney Yankauer, the Yankauer suction tip has withstood the test of time. The rigid Yankauer suction tip was originally designed to remove blood and secretions from a patient’s oral airway during tonsillectomy procedures. In fact, many practitioners call the Yankauer a “tonsil tip” suction device for this reason.

Oral suctioning in a controlled environment is one thing, but as a first responder, this is a luxury that just doesn’t happen very often. For patients with an airway emergency requiring intubation, you rely on equipment that is efficient, rugged, and safe in order to quickly and safely intubate and secure your patients’ airways. Effective suctioning makes a difference—perhaps even a life-saving difference—in a resuscitated patient. Aspiration pneumonia can occur in up to 50% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitations, so what are you to do? Following oral suctioning procedure tips as well as using the best EMS suction equipment available, improves both your efficiency as well as the safe outcomes of your patient.

Airway management is a priority for nurses and first responders alike. A critical component of this is effective airway clearance techniques to manage oropharyngeal secretions. Whether in the field or in a hospital, the how and when of oral suctioning must be mastered in order to ensure the patient's patent airway.

Operating a suction machine demands skill and precision. Yet many nurses only perform suctioning at times of high stress and chaos, such as in a tactical medical scenario or on a patient who has aspirated. Suction errors are preventable, but can also be catastrophic. According to research published in 2016, medical error is the third leading cause of death in the United States.