Education in airway management: a narrative review

Complications arising from airway management are leading causes of patient morbidity and mortality. Maintaining education in airway management is the responsibility of every airway clinician throughout their career. The traditional method of airway education for anaesthetists has relied on training in the operating room. This method has numerous shortcomings. Alternatives are being used for training in a safer environment outside the operating room. New educational opportunities include the use of tea trolley training and small advanced simulators, which can provide regular practice, distributed learning, and assessment with feedback. Competency-based medical education with a syllabus gives structure to training methods. Procedural skills and human factor training are also available with hands-on airway courses. Airway research, open access, and social media are sources of new knowledge and skills. Airway leads in the hospital play a vital role by promoting education, audit, adherence to guidelines, and the provision of suitable airway management equipment. New opportunities for airway education are now available, with advances in training methods, medical simulation, and artificial intelligence. These opportunities should be embraced to improve patient safety.