Completion of Week 1

You have now completed Week 1 of Airway Matters and we hope that you have found it an enjoyable and educational experience.

We have already covered a lot of learning material in this first week. We started to explore some answers to the question: “What makes airway management safer?”, looking at the learning from the National Audit Project 4 (NAP4), the role of capnography and the initiatives of the Difficult Airway Society (DAS). We discussed the role of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Airway Management. And finally, at the end of the week we took an anatomical journey through the airways.

In Week 2 of Airway Matters we will expand on the idea that safe airway management starts with thorough airway assessment, planning and preparation. We’ll look at a range of airway equipment, including video laryngoscopes and supraglottic airway devices and learn how we can devise an appropriate airway management strategy. We will explore the role of algorithms such as the DAS guidelines and cognitive aids such as the Vortex approach and consider how best to prepare for the Can’t Intubate, Can’t Oxygenate situation that we all dread. Please do join us.