Prehospital Airway Management Training and Education: An NAEMSP Position Statement and Resource Document

Abstract

Airway management competency extends beyond technical skills to encompass a comprehensive approach to optimize patient outcomes. Initial and continuing education for airway management must therefore extend beyond a narrow focus on psychomotor skills and task completion to include appreciation of underlying pathophysiology, clinical judgment, and higher-order decision making.

NAEMSP recommends:

• Active engagement in deliberate practice should be the guiding approach for developing and maintaining competence in airway management.

• EMS learners and clinicians must be educated in an escalating approach to airway management, where basic airway maneuvers form the central focus.

• Educational activities should extend beyond fundamental knowledge to focus on the development of clinical judgment.

• Optimization of patient outcomes should be valued over performance of individual airway management skills.

• Credentialing and continuing education activities in airway management are essential to advance clinicians beyond entry-level competency.

• Initial and continuing education programs should be responsive to advances in the evidence base and maintain adaptability to re-assess content and expected outcomes on a continual basis.

Key words:

• prehospital
• EMS
• airway
• education
• clinical judgment