Remember 2 Things: When to use a nasopharyngeal airway
BVM is hard, and unless you have a perfect technique, it's going to be difficult to get the volume of air you need into the patient without a nasopharyngeal airway
No more excuses. Steve Whitehead, NREMT, reminds us to always attempt to insert a nasopharyngeal airway when using a bag valve mask during airway management (with the exception of the conscious oriented patient who needs a little bit of positive pressure airway assistance).
BVM is hard, and unless you have a perfect technique, it's going to be difficult to get the volume of air you need into the patient without a nasopharyngeal airway, Whitehead reminds us in this episode of Remember Two Things.
And remember, just because you've inserted a single nasopharyngeal airway, doesn't mean you can't use it in combination with other airway adjuncts.
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This article was originally posted Jan. 7, 2015. It has been updated.
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