title: Successful airtraq use in an air medical transport system.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a large body of literature that shows that the AirTraq device achieves equal or superior rates of successful intubation in all classes of user. A recent prospective human trial of the device questioned the first pass success rate and whether effective training could occur outside the Operating Room (OR). The purpose of this study was to investigate the first pass success rate for intubation with the AirTraq (AT) device utilizing only mannequin training in an air ambulance setting from Aug. 1 2009 to Aug. 1 2012 and compare it to direct laryngoscopy (DL).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We hypothesize that the AirTraq device will be as effective overall as direct laryngoscopy, and that this requires no OR training to achieve.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review of 161 intubations by air ambulance flight nurses from Aug. 1, 2009 to Aug. 1, 2012 was conducted. Data regarding date of service, devices used, number of attempts, rescue device use, and complications was gathered and analyzed. The generalized estimating equation and the chi-squared test were used to evaluate the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  161 intubations were reviewed. 135 met inclusion criteria. Overall first pass success rate for AT was 82% (68/83) and DL was 74% (35/47). Overall first use success rate for AT was 79% (71/90) and DL was 70% (43/61). The overall success rate of intubation for any patient in which either AT or DL was attempted is 96% (130/135).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AirTraq was shown to be as effective as direct laryngoscopy. All air crew training for the AirTraq device was performed on mannequins. The successof the device compared to DL shows that mannequin training is sufficient to implement the AirTraq device for pre-hospital intubation.
authors.affiliation: Western Michigan School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, MI; Wyoming Medical Center, Casper, WY. Electronic address: wselde@wyomingmedicalcenter.org.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Selde
authors.affiliation: Western Michigan School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, MI.
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: English
authors.affiliation: West Michigan Air Care, Kalamazoo, MI.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heffelfinger
authors.affiliation: West Michigan Air Care, Kalamazoo, MI.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Eichel
authors.affiliation: Western Michigan School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, MI; West Michigan Air Care, Kalamazoo, MI.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ekblad
mesh_terms: D017732:Air Ambulances; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards*; D008485:Medical Audit; D012189:Retrospective Studies