title: In-flight oral endotracheal intubation.
abstract: This study's goal was to analyze aeromedical emergency medical services (EMS) endotracheal intubation (ETI) success rates for in-flight intubations, and to retrospectively compare in-flight ETI success rates with those achieved in hospital and trauma scene settings. Patients undergoing flight crew ETI during a 3-year study period were reviewed, and flight team-performed intubations were classified as in-flight, hospital (at referring hospital), or ground (at trauma scene). Flight crews attempted ETI in 302 patients, with success in 291 patients (96.4%). ETI success rates for in-flight, hospital, and ground groups were 94.2%, 96.8%, and 98.3%, respectively (P = .22). There were no differences among the groups in proportions of pediatric patients (P = .55) or multiple intubation attempts (P = .83). Use of paralytic agents was more frequent in ground and in-flight groups as compared with hospital group patients (P = .03). We conclude that with the aircraft and aeromedical crew studied, ETI was as likely to be successful in-flight as in other settings.
authors.affiliation: Boston MedFlight, MA 02210-1995, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Wedel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D000368:Aged; D017732:Air Ambulances / Q000592:standards*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004363:Drug Utilization; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009466:Neuromuscular Blocking Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000592:standards*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D009466:Neuromuscular Blocking Agents