Learning Airway Management Skills: Guidelines for Pediatrics

Abstract

Respiratory failure accounts for the majority of pediatrie cardiac arrests. 1 Rapid resuscitation of pediatric patients who are apneic but who still have a palpable pulse can lead to almost 97% survival. 2 This requires knowledge of endotracheal intubation, bag-valve-mask ventilation, and familiarity with rapid-sequence induction of anesthesia. 2 Therefore, learning safe and effective emergency airway management is an essential component of the training of pediatric and family practice residents. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of literature addressing how pediatric intubation and mask ventilation skills should be taught or evaluated. This is a review of the airway management training literature and an outline of an improved method for teaching residents adequate airway management skills that ensure the highest degree of patient safety. To our knowledge, there are no published data on how pediatric residents are currently learning intubation skills. Most pediatric residents acquire intubation skills as they care for patients