Apneic Oxygenation for Emergency Intubations in the Pediatric Emergency Department-A Quality Improvement Initiative

Emergency airway management of critically ill children in the Emergency Department (ED) is associated with the risk of intubation-related desaturation, which can be minimized by apneic oxygenation. We evaluated the use of apneic oxygenation in the pediatric ED and reported a quality improvement initiative to incorporate apneic oxygenation as a routine standard of care during rapid sequence intubations (RSIs).

A baseline period from June 2016 to April 2017 highlighted the practice gaps. Quality improvement interventions were subsequently developed and implemented as a care bundle consisting of a pre-intubation checklist, placing reminders and additional oxygen source in resuscitation bays, incorporating into the responsibilities of the airway doctor and the airway nurse (copiloting), education during airway workshops and simulation training for doctors and nurses, as well as enhancing documentation of the intubation process. We monitored a post-intervention observation period from May 2017 to April 2018 for the effectiveness of the care bundle.

Apneic oxygenation was not performed in all 22 RSIs during the baseline period. Among 25 RSIs in the post-intervention observation period, providers performed apneic oxygenation in 17 (68%) cases. There was no significant difference in the utilization of apneic oxygenation among emergency physicians and pediatric anesthetists performing RSIs in the pediatric ED.

We successfully implemented a care bundle targeted at incorporating apneic oxygenation as a routine standard of care during emergency intubations performed in ED. This method could be adopted by other pediatric EDs to improve airway management in critically ill children.