Does the Location of Endotracheal Intubation Affect the Success of Airway Management in a Helicopter Air Ambulance Service? A Simulation Study.

OBJECTIVE: Airway management is a cornerstone of helicopter air ambulance patient management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the overall quality of airway management of critical care crews in 3 common locations for intubation. METHODS: This was a prospective observational simulation study assessing the overall airway management of critical care providers managing simulated patients in an emergency department, helicopter, and ambulance. Composite scores were obtained and compared with respect to physical environment and provider certification level. RESULTS: Fifty-four participants completed the simulations. The median score for the emergency department was 100; for ambulance, it was 80; and for helicopter, it was 80. Ambulance scores were significantly lower than emergency department scores (median difference = -5 points, P = .002) as were helicopter scores (median difference = -10 points, P < .001). The small sample size limited the statistical power to detect differences in provider type, and no statistically significant differences were found in these groups. CONCLUSION: In this study, the physical location of airway management negatively impacted the overall airway management success as determined by a standardized composite score. This suggests that airway management may have the highest rate of success in an emergency department as opposed to ground ambulance or helicopter air ambulance settings.

Clinical Use of the Amplatzer Device in the Management of Intracardiac Defects: A Single-Center Experience.

Device therapy is a viable alternative to open heart surgery in the management of intracardiac defects. The Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) is one such device that has been adapted to close a wide variety of cardiac defects with few complications and a high success rate. This is a retrospective review of all the patients who received the ASO between 2012 and 2016 at the University of Kentucky. In total, 169 patients underwent percutaneous closure of a septal defect with Amplatzer during the timeframe studied, and of those, 91% received the device for an atrial septal defect or patent foramen ovale. Patients presented with stroke, transient ischemic attack, migraine, dyspnea or other symptoms and were diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography and cardiac catheterization. All Amplatzer devices achieved successful closure without requiring a second procedure. Four patients sustained complications of the procedure, with two experiencing tamponade, one with hematoma, and one with cellulitis. The Amplatzer device was not directly implicated in the three fatalities that occurred within 30 days of the septal occlusion procedure. The ASO has performed very well at our institution and we expect it to serve additional functions as the field of transcatheter cardiology develops.