title: Present-day prehospital airway management in the former Eastern German state of Thuringia: equipment and education of emergency physicians.
abstract: We describe the condition of education and equipment regarding prehospital airway management in the German federal state of Thuringia, representing a part of former Eastern Germany. In 2006 a postal survey of the 39 emergency medical stations (EMS) in Thuringia was carried out. The response rate was 100%. In 72% of the EMS, a device for extraglottic airway management and in all EMS a device for cricothyrotomy was available. A device to monitor end-tidal CO2 was available in 41%. Difficulties in airway management in the past two years were reported from 74% of the EMS. Ongoing training and education in airway management is provided in 82% of the emergency districts. This survey reveals wide variations in the equipment for airway management available to prehospital emergency physicians in Thuringia. Given the reported difficulties in airway management, availability of a more standardized set of airway management devices in Thuringia may be helpful.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany. lars.hueter@med.uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hüter
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schreiber
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reichel
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schwarzkopf
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D003625:Data Collection; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D020704:Laryngoscopes; D010820:Physicians; D011177:Postal Service; D014140:Tracheotomy / Q000193:education* / Q000295:instrumentation