Use this quick-reference guide to recognise, treat and hand over Advanced Airway & RSI Concepts 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
📌 Prepare
Ear to sternal notch
Preoxygenate + nasal cannula on
Fix BP and SpO2 first
📌 Confirm
Waveform ETCO2 — keep it on
Arrest: 1 breath every 6 s
📌 Failed
Back to bag-mask or SGA
Can't intubate, can't oxygenate → cric
📌 Deteriorates
Displacement
Obstruction
Pneumothorax
Equipment
📚 Advanced Airway & RSI Concepts — 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.
An advanced airway is a tool, not a goal: the patient dies from hypoxia and hypotension, not from a missing tube. The examinable content is preparing for the attempt, confirming placement with waveform capnography, and knowing the rescue path when the first attempt fails.
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Key points
Understand these first
Preoxygenate before any attempt and keep oxygen flowing by nasal cannula during it (apneic oxygenation).
Resuscitate before you intubate: correct hypoxia and hypotension first, because induction drops both.
Waveform capnography is the most reliable confirmation of tube placement — and it must stay on.
Failed attempt: go back to bag-mask or a supraglottic airway rather than repeating attempts.
Cannot intubate, cannot oxygenate: surgical cricothyrotomy is the final step at the paramedic level.
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Treatment priorities
What to do, in order
Position ear-to-sternal-notch with the face parallel to the ceiling before the attempt.
Abort the attempt when oxygen saturation falls — reoxygenate, then reassess the plan.
With an advanced airway in cardiac arrest: 1 breath every 6 seconds, compressions continuous.
What are the priority actions for Advanced Airway & RSI Concepts in the field?
Position ear-to-sternal-notch with the face parallel to the ceiling before the attempt. Abort the attempt when oxygen saturation falls — reoxygenate, then reassess the plan. With an advanced airway in cardiac arrest: 1 breath every 6 seconds, compressions continuous.
What findings in Advanced Airway & RSI Concepts change your plan or your transport decision?
Loss of the capnography waveform after intubation. Falling saturation during the attempt. Hypotension before induction.
What do I need to know about Advanced Airway & RSI Concepts for the NREMT?
Preoxygenate before any attempt and keep oxygen flowing by nasal cannula during it (apneic oxygenation). Resuscitate before you intubate: correct hypoxia and hypotension first, because induction drops both. Waveform capnography is the most reliable confirmation of tube placement — and it must stay on. Failed attempt: go back to bag-mask or a supraglottic airway rather than repeating attempts.
What should the crew communicate or document for Advanced Airway & RSI Concepts?