Does position of the patient adversely affect successful intubation whilst wearing CBRN-PPE?
INTRODUCTION: Following a CBRN incident attending medical personnel will be required to instigate life saving airway interventions whilst wearing CBRN-PPE. CBRN-PPE is known to adversely affect fine motor skill but little is known about whether the position of the patient compounds this problem. METHODS: Seventy-five clinicians were recruited and performed intubation and insertion of a LMA in to a manikin whilst wearing CBRN-PPE. Both skills were completed twice with the manikin positioned on a bench and once on the floor. Following completion of the study 25 participants (a minimum of 2 participants from each professional group) were interviewed to ascertain their experiences. The recruitment of a non-homogenous group allowed for subgroup analysis with regards the potential impact of professional background on skill performance. RESULTS: 9.33% first attempts at intubation at waist height ended in failure but this reduced to 4% on the second attempt. This improvement was reversed with
