Question: How would you clear the airway and maintain oxygenation in a patient who has just arrived in your resuscitation room? What precautions would you take in a trauma patient?

Answer: You would:

• Assess the airway – speak to the patient
• Look, listen and feel, keeping the patient's head in a neutral position
• Give high-flow oxygen via a mask with a reservoir bag
• Open the airway using a jaw thrust or chin lift but do not tilt the head.
• Suction the patient's airway if required. If necessary, use airway adjuncts such as an oropharyngeal airway or nasopharyngeal airway. Avoid nasopharyngeal airways if there are signs of base of skull fracture
• Protect the cervical spine with manual in-line spinal immobilisation, particularly during any airway interventions.

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