STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of complications and outcomes of urgent intubations in general hospital units. DESIGN: Prospective, observational, cohort study. SETTING: University-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: 150 patients who underwent tracheal intubation in the general care units. INTERVENTIONS: A standardized data collection form was used prospectively to record events at the time of intubation. Patient outcomes were extracted from the medical record. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The complication rate was 27%. The most common complications were multiple attempts (9% required>2 intubations) and esophageal intubation (9%). The complication rate for elective intubation (22%) was similar to the complication rate for emergent intubations (27%). Of patients intubated in the general care units, 52% survived and 33% of these were discharged. There was no significant difference (P=0.46) in survival between the patients intubated electively (59%) and emergently (50%). There was no significant difference (P=0.63) in survival between patients with (48%) and without complications (54%). CONCLUSIONS: Endotracheal intubation in general hospital units carries a high rate of complications, and patients who are intubated in general hospital units have a high mortality.