Intubation

Intubating is easy. My 8yo could intubate 80% of America. Blade in, lift up, drop tube, inflate. No big deal.

The hard part is learning who (and who not) to intubate and when.

Intubating is easy. My 8yo could intubate 80% of America. Blade in, lift up, drop tube, inflate. No big deal.

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Again, a ridiculous statement....

The hard part is learning who (and who not) to intubate and when.

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....followed by a good point.

GilaRN: True, EMTs do work off of established protocols...it just amazes me how much more indepence they have--necessarily so, of course.

Rio: We were required to have 4 or 6 live intubations in OR (I can't remember) but that was only as a medic. Our EMT basic required none but we were still trained and allowed to intubate. I don't even think all medic programs require live intubation in the training or can find an OR/anesthesia group that will allow them to do so. Some of the anesthesiologists were nice about it--others were complete jerks.

I am not even going to touch the subject of Basic EMT's intubating...

I guess independence is a very subjective concept. I know ICU/CCU nurses that care for cardiac cripples on a regular basis. These patients are on balloon pumps, multiple drips, and have multiple invasive lines. These nurses are titrating meds and settings all day long. Very independent if you ask me. In addition, a good ER will have standing orders or protocols in place so nurses can take proactive steps and perform interventions on specific sets of patients. (Chest pain for example.) Again, it takes inependent thinking on the nurses part to properly deliver these guidelines.

Again, a ridiculous statement....

Not really. It's usually really easy: lift and shove.

The problem is that when it's hard, you can't stop and go take ten minutes to find someone else to try.

My ACLS instructor quoted the statistic that a person should intubate at least 100 people per year to be considered proficient. I hope I don't ever have enough patients go down the tubes to make me proficient. It isn't that nurses aren't allowed to intubate, it is just the best policy to have only expert/trained persons preforming this proceedure. When I have a patient in that much respitatory disrtess I have plenty to do without the added responsibility of intubating.- although there have been a few times when I wanted to snatch the tube from the resident on his 3rd or 4th attempt and show him/her how it's done.

Not really. It's usually really easy: lift and shove.

The problem is that when it's hard, you can't stop and go take ten minutes to find someone else to try.

Then it is not so easy. You see, once you push your NMBA of choice, you have crossed the airway Rubicon so to speak. You essentially have three outcomes: First, a tube in the trachea. Second, gork for life. Finally, "the clean kill." The last two are primary indicators that I may need to consider going bankrupt in a hurry.

Then it is not so easy. You see, once you push your NMBA of choice, you have crossed the airway Rubicon so to speak. You essentially have three outcomes: First, a tube in the trachea. Second, gork for life. Finally, "the clean kill." The last two are primary indicators that I may need to consider going bankrupt in a hurry.

I keep a scalpel in my pocket at all times for any emergency trach that comes up. Sometimes I use my pen just for dramatic effect.

Kidding. No more intubations for me. The day I have to tube anyone is the day I get to clean up a corpse.

Then it is not so easy. You see, once you push your NMBA of choice, you have crossed the airway Rubicon so to speak. You essentially have three outcomes: First, a tube in the trachea. Second, gork for life. Finally, "the clean kill." The last two are primary indicators that I may need to consider going bankrupt in a hurry.

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Heh, heh.....paralytics are for wimps.

I keep a scalpel in my pocket at all times for any emergency trach that comes up. Sometimes I use my pen just for dramatic effect.

Kidding. No more intubations for me. The day I have to tube anyone is the day I get to clean up a corpse.

That's pretty funny. It's all about the drama.

Yeah, I am a wimp.

Intubating a dude...