Best Case Ever 39 – Airway Strategy & Mental Preparedness in EM Procedures with Richard Levitan

I caught up with airway enthusiast, educator and innovator Dr. Richard Levitan at SMACC in Chicago this past June. In this Best Case Ever on Airway Strategy and Mental Preparedness in EM Procedures, Dr. Levitan uses a great save of his in a penetrating trauma case as a basis for discussion on mental preparedness and how we've been thinking about our general approach to emergency procedures the wrong way. Rather than fixating on the final goal of a procedure, which can often be daunting and lead us astray, he suggests a methodical incrementalized and compartmentalized approach to EM procedures that reduces stress and fear, improves confidence and enhances success. He runs through several examples including intubation, cricothyrotomy and an initial approach to hypoxia to explain his Simple Incremental Approach to EM Procedures. Could this be a paradigm shift in the way we think about procedures in EM?....



Recorded June 2015; Published Sept 2015

In anticipation of the episode with Dr. Levitan, Dr. Andrew Sloas and Dr. David Barbic on Obesity - Emergency Management please check out these high educational impact resources:

Dr. Levitan's talk on The VAPORS mnemonic

Airway poster for your ED by Dr. Caroline Shooner

Emergency Department Airway Management of the Obese Adult from Annals of EM, 2010



FOAM Resources on Airway Strategy & Mental Preparedness in EM Procedures



Enhancing Human Performance and Flow in Resuscitation Part 2: The Tao of Resuscitation Performance - from EMcrit

Psychology and Human Factors in Airway Management lecture with Dr. George Kovacs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y76qSyX-joE

 Dr. Helman & Dr. Levitan have no conflicts of interest to declare