Does EMS Intubation Success Improve with Video Laryngoscopy?

Video vs. Direct Larygoscopy Jarvis JL, McClure SF, Johns D. EMS intubation improves with King Vision video laryngoscopy. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2015;19(4):482–489. Williamson County EMS, a suburban and rural Texas EMS system, reviewed its endotracheal intubation (ETI) success rates after adding the King Vision video laryngoscope to ALS units. Considering the county’s suburban and rural settings allow few intubation attempts per provider on an annual basis, researchers believed video laryngoscopy would be advantageous. Overall ETI success rate before the interventions was 64.9%. Background: The King Vision was chosen both due to provider preference following a cadaver lab session and its relatively low cost. Although previous studies have demonstrated little to no benefit from the addition of video laryngoscopy in services with highly experienced providers and high baseline success rates, the impact of video laryngoscopy hadn’t previously been evaluated in systems where there were a lower number of annual ETI attempts and a low baseline intubation success rate. Methods: This retrospective, observational study was conducted only in Williamson County. All ETI attempts that were listed on patient charts written between Oct. 1, 2010 and Nov. 14, 2013, were included in the study. Outcome measures included first-pass success rate, success per attempt, and overall success. For the purpose of this study, an ETI was defined as any time a laryngoscope blade was placed into a patient...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Airway & Respiratory Columns Patient Care Source Type: news