title: One-Year Experience with the Institution of a Critical Airway Team at an Academic Medical Center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  At our institution, there were a number of adverse patient events related to an unstable airway that led to the formation of a designated critical airway response team (CAT). It was hoped that this would improve patient outcomes in such matters.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to evaluate the impact of the creation of the CAT.
  
  
  METHODS
  A review of the activations of the CAT for 1 year was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We reviewed 51 CAT activations, the majority (71%) occurred in the emergency department (ED) and the most common reasons for activation were angioedema (41%) and epiglottitis (12%). Fiber optic intubation was the most common method used to secure the airway, 22% of the cases were transported to the operating room for management. Only one surgical airway was required and no adverse outcome related to the airway occurred in the studied group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The creation of a critical airway has been considered a success in terms of patient management at our institution. It has been most commonly used in the management of life-threatening angioedema in the ED.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Meera N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weston
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Chester, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Tarik K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Yuce
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Ann M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Carey
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Rodger E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Barnette
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: McNamara
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D058109:Airway Management / Q000379:methods*; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000628:therapy*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: airway; angioedema; critical airway team; difficult airway; emergency