Basic airway management

Basic airway management are a set of medical procedures performed in order to prevent airway obstruction and thus ensuring an open pathway between a patient’s lungs and the outside world. This is accomplished by clearing or preventing obstructions of airways, often referred to as choking, cause by the tongue, the airways themselves, foreign bodies or materials from the body itself, such as blood or aspiration. Contrary to advanced airway management; minimal-invasive techniques does not rely on the use of medical equipment and can be performed without or with little training. Airway management is a primary consideration in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, anaesthesia, emergency medicine, intensive care medicine and first aid.

Symptoms of airway obstructions includes:

Evaluation of an unconscious patients breathing is often performed by the look, listen, and feel method. The ear is placed over person's mouth so breathing can be heard and felt while looking for rising chest or abdomen. The procedure should not take longer than 10 seconds. As in conscious patients stridor can be heard if there is an airway obstruction. Back fall of the tongue however results in snoring. In the unconscious patient agonal breathing is often mistaken for airway obstructions. If there is respiratory arrest or agonal breathing CPR is indicated.

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