Another 3-fer! He’s a madman!
Yeah, mad like a fox!
There’s plenty of overlap between Protocol 502 – Obstructed Airway, its kid-friendly counterpart Protocol 551 – Pediatric Obstructed Airway, and its adjunct Protocol 552 – Pediatric Croup, and they’re all short and sweet, so let’s knock them all out at once, shall we?
502 deals initially with identifying a foreign body under direct laryngoscopy. Paramedics are directed to attempt removal with Magill forceps, but if this is unsuccessful and there is any issue with patient ventilation, the next steps guide paramedics through advanced airway management (namely, endotracheal intubation), and from there, an intentional right mainstem maneuver to push the obstruction out of the trachea. 551 for peds is the same but includes language to specify cuffed versus uncuffed ET tubes. And 552 adds the consideration for patients whose obstruction is related to potential croup or epiglottitis, in which case crews are instructed to avoid intubation and to stick with BVM if needed during transport.
That’s it! Knew you could do it! Stay tuned for another protocol next week! Until then, you always have www.nycremsco.org and the protocol binder to keep you company.
Dave