Skill Profile
Advanced Airway Management
"The observable action of securing and maintaining a patient's airway using advanced techniques — including intubation, supraglottic devices, and surgical airways — in order to ensure oxygenation and ventilation in emergency or anaesthetic situations."
YOUR SKILLS
Problems This Skill Solves
- A patient in cardiac arrest is vomiting and aspirating — securing the airway with a cuffed tube prevents lung contamination
- An unconscious trauma patient cannot maintain their own airway — rapid sequence intubation (RSI) protects the airway within 60 seconds
- An attempted intubation fails — the clinician switches to a supraglottic device (LMA) to maintain oxygenation while help is called
- A patient has complete airway obstruction from anaphylaxis — a surgical cricothyrotomy provides a definitive emergency airway
"Intubation is the gold standard airway in every emergency."
Intubation carries risks (oesophageal intubation, failed attempts, haemodynamic instability). Supraglottic airways and bag-mask ventilation are appropriate and sometimes preferable alternatives.
"You either can or can't intubate — it's a fixed ability."
Airway management is a skill set that degrades without practice. Regular simulation, supervised clinical exposure, and structured courses are required to maintain competency.
Research & Outlook
Video laryngoscopy is becoming the first-line tool in many emergency departments, improving first-attempt success rates. AI-assisted airway assessment tools are in development. Human skill and decision-making under pressure remain irreplaceable in failed airway scenarios.
See This Skill In Action
Watch a professional demonstrate Advanced Airway Management in a real working environment — what it looks like, how it's applied, and why it matters.
Clinical / Emergency Medicine
Advanced Airway Management
Also Known As
Growth Path
Can perform bag-mask ventilation, insert an oropharyngeal or nasopharyngeal airway, and position a patient correctly for intubation. Understands RSI sequence and indications.
Performs RSI and direct laryngoscopy independently in controlled settings. Uses video laryngoscopy for difficult airways. Inserts supraglottic devices as rescue device.
Manages complex and predicted difficult airways, performs awake fibreoptic intubation, executes surgical airways under pressure, and trains junior clinicians in airway technique and decision-making.
How to Practise
- 1.Complete ALS (Advanced Life Support) or ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) with airway skills stations
- 2.Practise intubation on an airway manikin until laryngoscopy, tube passage, and cuff inflation take under 30 seconds
- 3.Attend an anaesthetics placement or theatre list specifically to perform supervised intubations
- 4.Run through a "can't intubate, can't oxygenate" (CICO) drill on a simulation manikin until the response is automatic
How to Prove
- ·Logbook of supervised intubations (minimum 50 recommended for procedural competency)
- ·ALS/ATLS certification with airway skills sign-off
- ·DOPS (Directly Observed Procedural Skills) assessments for intubation and supraglottic airway insertion
- ·Difficult Airway Society (DAS) guidelines familiarity demonstrated in simulation or clinical exam