is it muscle or technique for intubating?

[BigDave]

At one place I worked we intubated sedated ferrets during PALS. Those teeth sure are freaky! (we went to the clinical research lab attached to the hospital)

[WAREAGLE]

They should just throw those mannequins out the windows!! They are nothing like intubating a person in my opinion. Laryngoscopy takes some strength, but it is much more about technique. Once you start getting the technique down you will find it requires less strength than you think. I am only in my 4th mth of clinicals & I can tell a huge difference now.

good luck!!

[Laughing Gas]

They should just throw those mannequins out the windows!! They are nothing like intubating a person in my opinion. Laryngoscopy takes some strength, but it is much more about technique. Once you start getting the technique down you will find it requires less strength than you think. I am only in my 4th mth of clinicals & I can tell a huge difference now.

good luck!!

Agreed, those are about as life like as Michael Jackson

[kestrel1121]

Thanks for the input, it really helped me calm down! Yesterday we did practice again and it went much smoother but I found I tended to 'rest' my forearm on the mannequin's head. It took less muscle and was actually able to see the airway without straining!

Next, we did LMAs-any tips for folks with small hands and short fingers-I'm wondering if I will be able to push it back far enough for a good seal-does it matter if I use my middle finger instead of index?

[Tenesma]

funny thing about LMAs

a neat trick for LMAs that just don't go down right:

- use either a bougie or an OGT and advance it down the goose, then advance the LMA over the bougie/ogt into the mouth - until it sits... there you go!

[Laughing Gas]

One more important thing. Getting your blade into the mouth, and into the back of the pharynx can be the toughest part. The scissor technique will allow you to easily deposit your blade with out playing bumper cars with their teeth. The tongue usually shows itself out of the way also with good enough exposure. You will spend 20 seconds just fumbling in their mouth if you don't get it open and retracted enough.