👤 By the CinnaEMS Content Team🕐 Updated 2026-09-27🏷️ Primary Assessment🔖 Free to read, print, and share
Also known as: OPA · NPA · suction · oxygen · nonrebreather · CPAP
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Use this quick-reference guide to recognise, treat and hand over Airway, Oxygen & CPAP on the NREMT and on the call. Keep it handy during review and on exam day!
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📒 The 1-minute cheat sheet
📌 Adjuncts
OPA: mouth → earlobe, no gag
NPA: nose → earlobe, not with skull fracture
📌 Suction
Adult 15 s max
On the way out
📌 Oxygen
NC 1–6 L/min · NRB 10–15 L/min
Inadequate breathing → BVM
📌 Cpap
Awake, breathing, protecting airway
BP falls → take it off
📚 Airway, Oxygen & CPAP — full study notes
The cheat sheet above is your quick recall card. These notes go deeper — what it is, what to do first, what changes the plan, and what to hand over.
The device is chosen by the breathing you see. Adjuncts and suction keep the airway open, oxygen raises concentration, and only positive pressure moves air for a patient who is not breathing adequately.
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Key points
Understand these first
OPA: corner of the mouth to the earlobe or angle of the jaw, only without a gag reflex.
NPA: tip of the nose to the earlobe; avoid with signs of basilar skull fracture.
Suction an adult for no more than 15 seconds, on the way out only.
Nasal cannula 1–6 L/min; nonrebreather 10–15 L/min with the bag kept full.
CPAP for an awake, breathing patient in distress who can protect the airway.
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Treatment priorities
What to do, in order
Rate 6 and shallow needs a bag-valve mask — a mask cannot move air.
Give oxygen below about 94 percent or with distress; titrate to need.
Remove CPAP if the blood pressure falls.
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Red flags — report now
Escalate immediately
Pneumothorax, vomiting or inability to protect the airway (no CPAP)
A nonrebreather run at a low flow
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Patient teaching
What patients must know
Oxygenation and ventilation are different problems.
❓ Airway, Oxygen & CPAP: NREMT FAQs
What are the priority actions for Airway, Oxygen & CPAP in the field?
Rate 6 and shallow needs a bag-valve mask — a mask cannot move air. Give oxygen below about 94 percent or with distress; titrate to need. Remove CPAP if the blood pressure falls.
What findings in Airway, Oxygen & CPAP change your plan or your transport decision?
Pneumothorax, vomiting or inability to protect the airway (no CPAP). A nonrebreather run at a low flow.
What do I need to know about Airway, Oxygen & CPAP for the NREMT?
OPA: corner of the mouth to the earlobe or angle of the jaw, only without a gag reflex. NPA: tip of the nose to the earlobe; avoid with signs of basilar skull fracture. Suction an adult for no more than 15 seconds, on the way out only. Nasal cannula 1–6 L/min; nonrebreather 10–15 L/min with the bag kept full.
What should the crew communicate or document for Airway, Oxygen & CPAP?
Oxygenation and ventilation are different problems.
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Quick Tip
OPA: corner of the mouth to the earlobe or angle of the jaw, only without a gag reflex.