Your team set up for intubation. You continue with your assessment. What considerations for breathing are immediately relevant?
What considerations for breathing are immediately relevant?
Inhalational injury
May impair gas-exchange
Will require bronchoscopy to evaluate in due course
Carbon monoxide poisoning
Check carboxyhaemoglobin levels
Check blood gas co-oximetry, as pulse oximeters will over-read
Washout is hastened by 100% oxygen
Torso eschars may restrict ventilation
You secure the airway using a videolaryngoscope and a size 9.0 uncut ETT. The upper airway is covered in soot and appears erythematous, but is not overtly swollen or ulcerated.
