Objectives: Emergency definitive airway management is a fundamental skill for physicians in the emergency department. The aim of this survey was to determine the perceived confidence in the assessment and control of the emergency airway, including rapid sequence intubation, among physicians in Scottish teaching hospital emergency departments.
Methods: A postal survey of senior and middle-grade physicians in seven Scottish teaching hospital emergency departments.
Results: The response rate was 78% (47/60). A total of 98% of physicians rated their confidence at assessing the difficult airway as 'reasonable' to 'very high'; 79% were confident concerning their ability to administer drugs to facilitate emergency intubation; 47% had used drugs for emergency intubation within the month preceding the survey, and 72% had done so within the 6 months before the survey. Consultants were more confident than trainees, as were those possessing the Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists qualification or a Diploma in Anaesthetics (UK). Those possessing the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists qualification had all performed a rapid sequence intubation within the past month.
Conclusion: Physicians in Scottish teaching hospital emergency departments have high levels of self-rated confidence in assessment and their ability to secure the emergency airway utilizing drugs to facilitate emergency intubation. Consultants and those with anaesthetic qualifications are more confident than trainees and those without such a qualification.