Airway Management for Army Reserve Combat Medics: An Interdisciplinary Workshop

Area of Science:

• Military Medicine
• Emergency Medicine
• Anesthesiology

Background:

• Battlefield deaths predominantly occur prehospital, with a significant portion being potentially survivable.
• Hemorrhage accounts for the majority of prehospital deaths, followed by other causes like airway compromise.
• Optimizing the skills and decision-making of combat medics is crucial for improving battlefield outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of an educational intervention by anesthesia providers on Army Reserve Combat Medics' airway management skills.
• To improve medics' knowledge, confidence, and performance in managing difficult airways in austere environments.

Main Methods:

• Voluntary participation of Army Reserve Combat Medics in an airway management educational intervention.
• Preintervention assessment of knowledge and comfort, followed by simulated difficult airway scenarios.
• Hands-on simulation stations covering fundamental airway techniques and algorithm navigation, with pre/post assessments.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant increases in self-reported confidence in airway skills, algorithm progression, and predicting airway difficulty.
• Faster establishment of ventilation post-intervention.
• Improved airway management coherence, knowledge acquisition, and application of psychological research principles.

Conclusions:

• Supplementing Army Reserve Combat Medic training with anesthesia provider expertise is an effective educational platform.
• The intervention significantly boosted confidence, critical for decision-making and performance.
• Enhanced skills contribute to preventing potentially survivable mortality on the battlefield.