Basic Emergency Airway Management and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)

Abstract

In an emergency, all basic life support (BLS), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), and advanced trauma life support (ATLS) techniques focus on the ABCs – airway, breathing, and circulation (currently ABCD with defibrillation is also used).1–3 The airway is the most important element of BLS and is correctly allocated as the “A” in the ABCD of resuscitation. Assessment, establishment, and maintenance of a patent airway, with adequate oxygenation and ventilation, form the foundation upon which other resuscitative measures are built. Without this foundation, all other resuscitative measures are doomed to failure, as an inadequate airway leads rapidly to hypoxemia and uncorrected hypoxemia will result in brain damage and ultimately death.