NextGen Learning To Elevate Your Airway Practice
Essential Elements
The Face of FONA: Personal Stories
Performing a surgical airway is one of the most high-stakes, emotionally charged moments in clinical practice. In this video, experienced clinicians share deeply personal accounts of when they’ve had to perform front-of-neck access (FONA). These aren’t procedural tutorials; they’re raw, honest reflections on what it feels like to make that cut: the hesitation, the silence, the noise, the aftermath.
Hearing directly from those who’ve been there offers something no textbook can: a window into the emotional, psychological, and human realities of managing a can’t-intubate-can’t-oxygenate (CICO) crisis. These stories prepare not just your hands, but your mindset, for the moment that may one day be yours.
The Stories
The Quote
This quote crystallizes the reality that stress and emotions play a role in our ability to perform FONA. Acknowledging this is important, but also understanding that anxiety and fear around FONA are common experiences and that if you have these emotions, you share them with the rest of us. Just knowing this can help lessen that fear. Now, listen to the stories below to complete this section.
The Bottom Line
The people who’ve done FONA carry lessons that every airway clinician needs to hear: it’s terrifying, it’s messy, and it’s unforgettable, but it’s also lifesaving. Their message is clear: train hard, know your plan, and don’t wait too long. The fear is normal, but it doesn’t have to be paralyzing. It’s the hesitation that is dangerous. What stays with you isn’t just the procedure, but the weight of the moment. Learn from those who’ve lived it, because someday, it might be you.
What’s Next
Find Or Click Me
Nice work—you’re through this section! To keep going, scan the QR code on the physical poster at the next station in our pop-up training space to access the next set of digital content. Prefer to stay online? Just click the poster image here to continue your journey.
Meet the Creator
Thanks to Jamie Lee MD @thestrivetofit for collecting this compelling series from real clinicians facing down the can’t intubate, can’t oxygenate reality of a failed airway.
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