Airway and breathing

The category at a glance

Airway equipment differs from other trauma supplies in one respect: the bar for who may use it varies widely. Anyone can carry and use a face shield or pocket mask, a bag-valve mask and oropharyngeal airway require practice, and a laryngeal mask belongs with those who have formal training in airway management. The range is therefore deliberately broad — it is meant to cover both the individual with a personal kit and the organisation that trains, crews an ambulance or maintains its own emergency stores.

Pocket masks and face shields

The simplest barrier between rescuer and patient. Laerdal Pocket Mask is available with a one-way valve, with an oxygen inlet and in a hard case or soft pouch, and is the mask used on the great majority of CPR courses in Sweden. Keyring face shields weigh a few grams and are the only solution that genuinely goes everywhere with you — which is why they are also sold in packs of ten and twenty-five for courses and workplaces. Cederroth and Vitri complement the range with simpler rescue breathing masks and protection kits.

Bag-valve masks

Ambu SPUR II and Laerdal The BAG II cover the whole weight range, from infants of 2.5–12 kg up to adults, with and without an oxygen reservoir and with a pressure-limiting valve on the paediatric versions. Size is not an accessory choice but the fundamental one: an adult bag on a small child delivers the wrong volume. Pocket BVM is a collapsible bag for anyone who needs the ability to ventilate in a kit where a standard bag will never fit.

Oropharyngeal airways, nasopharyngeal airways and laryngeal masks

Guedel oropharyngeal airways from Intersurgical come in the full ISO range with colour-coded sizes, and the Dahlhausen series covers the smallest sizes for infants and newborns. Rüsch nasopharyngeal airways in 24, 28 and 30 French are available singly and in packs of five. Laryngeal masks — i-gel from Intersurgical as well as Ambu Aura-i and AuraOnce — are intended for those trained in airway management and are used in ambulances, in clinics and in training settings.

Oxygen and suction

Oxygen masks with reservoir and nasal cannulas from Intersurgical, Vyaire and Southmedic, with tubing in adult and paediatric versions, plus nebuliser kits and tubing sets for those running a more permanent medical service. Laerdal Compact Suction Unit in 300 ml and 800 ml is the portable suction unit for secretions and blood in the airway — equipment that belongs in vehicles and emergency stores rather than in a personal kit. Thomas Select tube holders secure the tube after intubation and are available both singly and in packs of twenty-five for those who use them continuously.

What it goes with

The airway comes after bleeding control in emergency care. See trauma and bleeding control, tourniquets and chest seals — and hypothermia protection ahead of transport.