opinion on clinical practice

i have an issue i would like a little feedback on...here's how the discussion went.
me: put pt to sleep, give a few breaths to asses ventilation. (standard induction not rsi)
md: why are you breathing the pt, go ahead and paralyze.
me: i want to see if i can ventilate first, then give the ndmr.(vec in this case)
md: it doesnt matter anyway, you have to get the airway.
me: if i cant ventilate this guy is paralyzed at least an hour.
md: so, you have to get the airway.
me:yeah but if i cant vent. at least he will be in the process of waking up while i try to get the airway, otherwise he wont do any be breathing.
md: how long does propofol last? he's still gonna get braindamage.
me: yeah but he wont be dead.
md: but how long does propofol last, he still wont breathe, he will have brain damage.
me: well it's dose dependant and at least when they put my chart on the wall in the courtroom i can say i was doing my best to vent, wake up the patient and get an airway. the other way pt is dead, i'm dead in court
md: you still have to get the airway
me: i am not paralyzing anyone that i dont know i can ventilate unless i have to. esp with longer acting agents.
so this went on for about 20 minutes, not heated but noone was gonna give any ground.
is there anyone who regularly paralyzes without regard to ventilation with non depolarizers.
or is it more the standard of care to assess ventilation first?
thoughts....comments....
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