Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
-
Multicenter Study
How many attempts are required to accomplish out-of-hospital endotracheal intubation?
An important goal of emergency airway management is to complete endotracheal intubation (ETI) correctly, safely, and quickly, and repeated ETI attempts can increase patient morbidity and mortality. Clinical protocols limiting the number of ETI attempts may minimize harm, but this strategy also may reduce the frequency of successful ETI. ⋯ Out-of-hospital rescuers often require multiple attempts to accomplish ETI. A protocol limit of three attempts offers reasonable opportunity for accomplishing ETI within the constraints of the out-of-hospital environment.