Bystander cricothyroidotomy performed with an improvised airway

Military Medicine, Jan 2002 by Adams, Bruce D

Physicians may find themselves as accident bystanders when a patient has an acutely compromised airway before EMS personnel arrive. Using readily available equipment, a cricothyroidotomy can prove lifesaving. Our study indicates that the sports bottle straw is superior to a ballpoint pen barrel as an emergency TT.

Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledge the contributions of Jody Clanton for her work on the pulmonary function testing and body plethysmograph.

References

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Guarantor: LTC Bruce D. Adams, MC USA

Contributors: LTC Bruce D. Adams, MC USA; COL Warren L. Whitlock, MC USA

Directorate of Medicine, Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, GA.

Presented at the 92nd Annual Scientific Assembly, Southern Medical Association, New Orleans, LA, November 1998, and at the Southeastern Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, New Orleans, LA, March 2001.

This manuscript was received for review in September 2000. The revised manuscript was accepted for publication in June 2001.