Rethinking Our Rapid Response to the Emergency Airway Plan

Piechowski

St George

“We believe that the key to successful emergency endotracheal intubation is easy access to equipment embedded in a system of standardised, yet simple readiness.”

BMJ Article

The Air Kit & the Other Side of Complexity

Rationale behind designing the AIR-BOX

When we created the AIR-BOX, our primary objective was to reduce the cognitive burden on clinicians during an emergent and time dependent crash airway event. During an emergency, searching for specific items in a large, cluttered storage unit can be an unnecessary source of stress. Therefore, we included only the most essential equipment. Its compact size allows it to be delivered to a resuscitation quickly, regardless of the location.

Transparent compartments make the equipment easily visible. The hook allows it to be suspended, and places equipment at the provider’s eye-level, eliminating the need for horizontal space on tables or trays. Lastly, the AIR-BOX incorporates a step-by-step cognitive algorithm by arranging equipment vertically in the order in which it is commonly used. The three main compartments hold airway, intubation and rescue devices, hence the acronym AIR.

BMJ Article

A prospective randomised simulation trial comparing our novel AIR-BOX to standard airway equipment storage modalities