Resuscitation Strategies for Maximizing Survival.

There is no single resuscitation strategy that will uniformly improve cardiac arrest outcomes. Traditional vital signs cannot be relied on in cardiac arrest, and the use of continuous capnography, regional cerebral tissue oxygenation, and continuous arterial monitoring are options for use early defibrillation are critical elements of resuscitation. Cardio-cerebral perfusion may be improved with the use of active compression-decompression CPR, an impedance threshold device, and head-up CPR.

Emergency Airway Management in a Patient with a T-Tube Tracheal Stent.

Background: Abnormal anatomy complicates emergency airway management. In this case, we describe definitive airway management in a critically injured emergency department (ED) patient with a history of partial tracheal resection who had a Montgomery T-tube, a type of T-shaped tracheal stent, in place at the time of the motor vehicle collision. The Montgomery T-tube is not a useful artificial airway during resuscitation, as it lacks a cuff or the necessary adapter for positive pressure ventilation.