[quote=Riot]I want Doc ICU to weigh in ... I doubt this poor man had a chance in hell, but the first thing I noticed - in the picture of the poor guy laying there obviously dead - is that all they have is a lousy ambu bag on room air and oropharyngeal airway. I can't tell if the blood is from his ear, mouth, nose.
The Olympics, and nobody has a freaking' laryngoscope and ET tube to provide an airway? Are emergency crews prevented from intubating in the face of a possible neck fracture?
A. Crew has to assume head trauma
B. Neck extension for ET would be prohibited assuming A
C. In most circumstances the anatomy is a challenge to identify the chords and put the tube in the right hole. With this poor guy it's likely altered beyond recognition from the trauma and the force his neck and head absorbed.
Most likely the impact caused a massive hemorhage in his head taking him almost instantly.
Most ambulance crews in a community have permission to intubate based on the skill of the crew. This intubation would have been a two man endeavor at best with in line traction used to avoid the usual neck manipulation that allows you to find the anatomy to place the tube in the correct hole. This airway would have likely been a trach in the most skilled of hands.
Very very sad, my prayers to his family.....
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