Comparison of Endotracheal Intubation Skills With Video Laryngoscopy and Direct Laryngoscopy in Providing Airway Patency in a Moving Ambulance

• Published in: The Journal of emergency medicine 2021-06, Vol.60 (6), p.752-759
• Main Authors: Gok, Pakize Gozde, Ozakin, Engin, Acar, Nurdan, Karakilic, Evvah, Kaya, Filiz B., Tekin, Nurettin, Yazlamaz, Nazlı Ozcan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: airway manikin; direct laryngoscopy; endotracheal intubation; mobile ambulance; video laryngoscopy
• ISSN: 0736-4679; 2352-5029
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2020.12.009

Early and successful management of the airway in the prehospital and hospital settings is critical in life-threatening situations. We aimed to perform endotracheal intubation (ETI) by direct laryngoscopy (DL) and video laryngoscopy (VL) on airway manikins on a moving track and to compare the properties of intubation attempts. Overall, 79 participants with no previous VL experience were given 4 h of ETI training with DL and VL using a standard airway manikin. ETI skill was tested inside a moving ambulance. The number of attempts until successful ETI, ETI attempt times, time needed to see the vocal cords, and the degree of convenience of both ETI methods were recorded. Overall, 22 of 79 individuals were men; mean age was 30.3 ± 4.5 years. No difference was found in the comparison of the two methods (p = 0.708). Time needed to see the vocal cords for those who were successful in their first attempt were between 1 and 8 s in both methods. In the VL method, time needed to see the vocal cords (p = 0.001) and the intubation time (p