Develop safe airway management strategies for your patients: a free course from FutureLearn

Summary

The safe management of a patient’s airway is one of the most challenging and complex tasks undertaken by a health professional - complications can result in devastating outcomes.

How can anaesthetists improve safety, prevent complications, and be prepared to manage difficulties when they arise?

How, in a crisis, can we ensure that human and technical resources are best utilised?

This free course from Future Learn, endorsed by the Difficult Airway Society, will provide answers to these key questions and help you develop strategies to improve patient safety in your area of practice, discussing safe airway management in patient groups and multidisciplinary clinical settings.

Content

This course, is for all members of the multidisciplinary team who provide airway support to patients, or care for patients with a compromised airway. This includes anaesthetists, anaesthesia associates, operating department practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, adult and paediatric intensivists, prehospital and emergency medicine physicians, paramedics, head and neck surgeons and members of the cardiac arrest team.

By the end of the course, you'll be able to:

• improve your strategies to deal with the unexpected difficult airway and explore guidelines to use in special circumstances.
• identify the key learning points and recommendations from the 4th National Audit Project (NAP4) on major complications of airway management in the UK.
• apply the principles of multidisciplinary planning, communication and teamwork in shared airways interventions.
• describe the technical and non-technical aspects of safe airway management for patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery, and the critically ill.
• engage in a global discussion on airway matters with health professionals from around the world.