• J D Losek, W A Bonadio, C Walsh-Kelly, H Hennes, D S Smith, and P W Glaeser.
• Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53233.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 1989 Mar 1;5(1):1-4.

AbstractPediatric prehospital care was reviewed over a one-year period to determine success rate, causes of unsuccessful attempts, and complications of performing endotracheal intubation. The Milwaukee County Emergency Medicine Technician-Paramedics (EMT-Ps) responded to 1467 pediatric (less than 19 years of age) patient calls. This accounted for 11% of the patients who received EMT-P care during the study period. Of the 63 patients requiring pediatric endotracheal intubation, 49 (78%) were successfully intubated. Of the 42 pulseless nonbreathing (PNB) patients, 39 (93%) were successfully Of the 21 patients judged to be in impending respiratory failure, 10 (48%) were successfully intubated. Common difficulties in intubating the PNB patient included inability to visualize the glottis and cords secondary to mucus and/or vomitus, use of inappropriately small endotracheal tubes, and accidental extubation during transport. Difficulties in intubating impending respiratory failure patients included patient resistance and seizure activity. We recommend that the EMT-P training curriculum include a review of these difficulties and that prehospital pediatric endotracheal intubation performance be monitored and reviewed with the EMT-Ps.

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