The Difficult Airway

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Failed Airway

A failed airway can be defined as:

The inability to correctly place an endotracheal tube in the trachea

or

The inability to maintain SpO2 greater than 89% using BLS maneuvers (bag-valve-mask)


You want to ensure you have adequate materials and resources, including staffing, available for the potentially failed airway.  This can be considered a "can't intubate, can't ventilate" situation and a cricothyrotomy or surgical cricothyrotomy may need to be performed.

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