Video Laryngoscopy That’s the Perfect Fit

Andrew Merrill, FP-C, regional clinical compliance manager for Air Methods Region 3, covering Arizona and New Mexico, says Air Methods had space in mind when it conducted an extensive company-wide trial of video laryngoscopes for use on its helicopters. Several were trialed that had large or separate screens, none of which were conducive to use in the confined space of a small aircraft.

Luckily for Air Methods, they also trialed the C-MAC Pocket Monitor from KARL STORZ. The highly portable C-MAC Pocket Monitor is an ideal solution for emergency, trauma and field-based difficult intubations.

“The C-MAC is very compact, and what we really enjoyed about it is you could also use it for direct laryngoscopy,” Merrill says. “So if the screen or camera ever went out we would still be able to intubate the patient through DL (direct laryngoscopy), and that was a big plus for us.”

Merrill says crews in Region 3 have probably used it 30–40 times already since they got the C-MAC in May. And it’s done nothing but prove its worth in that time. “Not too long ago I intubated a patient who had a flash pulmonary edema, and I actually watched it as I put the laryngoscope blade in. I saw the pink, frothy sputum coming up, and I was like ‘That’s not good.’ The C-MAC just gave me a better overall picture of what’s going on. It was very slick.”

He adds the first Air Methods provider to use the C-MAC in the region intubated a burn patient with a blister in the airway. “She was able to go around it and get the airway, and she said she would never have been able to do that without the C-MAC.”

And, says Merrill, their numbers for first attempt success have gone up drastically with the C-MAC. “We were in the 60%–70% range for first attempt success—100% for overall success—but with the C-MAC we’re now in the 90s and it just keeps going up every week.”

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