Sideline airway access: emergency cricothyrotomy.
Emergency care of a collapsed athlete begins with the ABC basic: A (airway), B (breathing) and C (circulation). Without an effective airway, all other interventions will fail. Cricothyrotomy is an emergency procedure that sideline providers should know and be ready to perform if airway access cannot be accomplished by positioning, rescue breathing, or endotracheal intubation.
Roberts
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MinnHealth Family Physicians, White Bear Lake, MN, 55110, USA. rober037@umn.edu.