The right suction catheter can save patients’ lives. The wrong one can cause pharyngeal injuries, reduce suction power, and even increase morbidity and mortality. Whether you’re purchasing suction catheters for portable use in EMS settings, for the hospital, or for a medical clinic, selecting a variety of tips is key. This strategy ensures that providers always have the right suction catheter on hand. Here are some questions to ask before making your next purchase.

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.

Virtually every medical office worker, dental care provider, hospital employee, or first responder must use medical suctioning. Suctioning can be an important emergency intervention as well as a key aspect of routine care.

Suctioning a patient can maintain a patent airway, remove life-threatening airway obstructions, and prevent aspiration in vomiting or bleeding patients. But airway suctioning is not without risks, including changes in blood pressure. First responders must understand the link between suctioning and blood pressure to prevent both hypotensive and hypertensive states. 

Difficult to precisely define and encompassing a wide range of situations, medical errors nevertheless can be devastatingly costly patients and to health care providers. Protecting against these mistakes is expensive, as well, with the value of the medical malpractice insurance market estimated by some to be over $17 billion and premiums increasing rapidly in recent years.

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.

Cardiac arrest is a nightmare scenario for most first responders. Recent research suggests survival rates are as low as 6 percent when cardiac arrest happens outside the hospital. Immediate intervention is required, but if suctioning is required, treating a patient in cardiac arrest can be challenging. Here’s what you need to know about the procedure.

When you think of suctioning, you generally think of a straightforward, yet lifesaving, procedure. For the most part, it is a relatively basic skill that can make a world of difference in your patient’s outcome. But even the simplest treatments must be performed using proper technique. As a quick review, the airway is divided into upper and lower structures.