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Old 03-30-2005, 20:11   #9
Endorphin Rush
Guerrilla
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Suburban Philadelphia, Pa. / MGRS 18SVK 11 05
Posts: 122
I'm with Rogerabn on this one...

I was shown this technique in an ATLS class years ago. I believe the wire is introduced into the trachea via the Cricothyroid membrane and then up through the cords until visualized in the oropharynx. The ETT is then guided past the cords by way of the stylette. This is not a guaranteed intubation, even so. And once you've cut the cricothyroid membrane (which is not particularly vascular all by itself) you've got a bloody mess to intubate around. I've actually seen this technique attempted unsuccessfully, in a fall victim with gross maxillofacial trauma, after which our flight nurse simply passed as large a tube as would fit through the Cricothyroid membrane, inflated the cuff, and ventilated away.
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