Let's introduce you to some more of our equipment!
Intubation has been a key skill for Paramedics for decades, and allows Paramedics to place a breathing tube into a patient's trachea if they are unable to breathe on their own. This is often done when patients are in cardiac arrest, the patient has stopped breathing, or a Paramedic can decide to sedate a patient to breathe for them if they are not breathing well enough on their own.
In either case, the tool of preference is the video laryngoscope. This is an improved version of the older direct laryngoscope. With a video laryngoscope paramedics use a small camera to look directly at the patient's airway. This assists with the skillful and precise placement of the breathing tube.
All of our Paramedics and EMTs are trained in the use of this equipment, even though our Paramedics are the only ones permitted to perform the skill on live patients. This is because it's important for our EMTs to understand the procedure and what to anticipate and help the Paramedics problem solve when things get complicated. This equipment is on every ambulance and supervisor vehicle in the district.
Original source can be found here.
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