[Surgicalcric]

Sarnt:

Are you looking for an explaination of, indications for, contraindications against, equipment needed, etc?

edited this part for clarity
My understanding of it (in paramedic terms) is that RI refers to introducing a wire into the trachea through the cricoid membrane and passing it up and out of the mouth. Once the wire is passed up out of the mouth the tube is guided over the wire and then the vocal cords by using the wire as a guide.

It is a procedure that takes a lot of practice/training IMHO. (I hope I explained that right. We only touched on it slightly during in-service once as we did not use the procedure at that time and still dont.)

It looked more time consuming to me (Paramedic) than whipping out the trusty laryngoscope or other airway adjunct of choice, in the field anyway.

An alternative to RI would be a Bougie(sp) Inducer. Its similar to a stylette but longer and with a larger more rounded distal end. It is introducer thru the cords then the tube is advanced over it. Once the ET is in place the BI is retracted. They were looked at once by my service to aid in tubing patients whose very anterior. Better IMNSHO for EMS/FD use as there is not the worry of perforating the trachea, or other anatomy, while bouncing down the road... errr...enroute to the ER. They seemed to be used in the OR quite frequently where DocT and I once were employed.

HTH,

Crip