• Tom Solan, Daniel Cudini, Matthew Humar, Nathan Forsyth, Ben Meadley, Toby St Clair, Darren Hodge, Karen Smith, Franz E Babl, and Elliot Long.
• Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Emerg Med Australas. 2023 Oct 1; 35 (5): 754758754-758.

ObjectivesEmergency intubation in children is an infrequent procedure both in the pre-hospital and hospital setting. The anatomical, physiological and situational challenges together with limited clinician exposure can make this a difficult procedure with high risk of adverse events. The aim of this collaborative study between a state-wide ambulance service and a tertiary children's hospital was to describe the characteristics of pre-hospital paediatric intubations by Intensive Care Paramedics.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective review of state-wide ambulance service electronic patient care records (ePCRs) in Victoria, Australia, population: 6.5 million. Children aged 0-18 years who were attended by paramedics over a 12-month period that required advanced airway management were analysed for demographics and first-pass success rate.ResultsParamedics attended 2674 cases aged 0-18 years over the 12-month study period who received basic or advanced airway management. A total of 78 cases required advanced airway management. The median age of patients was 12 years (interquartile range 3-16) and most were male (60.2%). Sixty-eight patients (87.5%) were intubated successfully on the first attempt, first-pass success was lowest in children <1 year of age. The most common indications for pre-hospital intubation were closed head injury and cardiac arrest. It was not possible to report complication rates because of incomplete documentation.ConclusionPre-hospital intubation in children is performed infrequently in an extremely unwell patient group. Continued high-level paramedic training is required to prevent adverse events and ensure patient safety.© 2023 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

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