TRACK(S): EDU, GEN, TRA

Moderator: Michael S. Bouton, MD, FACS, Fargo, ND

Emergency airway management is critical in the field, emergency room, operating room, intensive care unit, and hospital wards. Has improved patient management and techniques such as Bi-PAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure), CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), LMA (Laryngeal Mask Airway), videoscopic laryngoscopy, bronchoscopes, and percutaneous tracheostomy made cricothyroidotomy and open emergency tracheostomy obsolete? Familiarity with all the modalities of airway management is paramount to good outcomes.

Presentations and Speakers

Emergency Tracheostomies, History, Techniques, and Complications
Gerald R. Fortuna, MD, FACS, St. Louis, MO

Evaluation and Determination of the Need for an Emergency Airway and Alternatives to Tracheostomies
Bradley D. Freeman, MD, FACS, St. Louis, MO

No: Emergency Tracheostomies Are Still an Integral Part of Trauma and Critical Care
Stephanie A. Savage, MD, MS, FACS, Indianapolis, IN