Airway Matters (FutureLearn)

In this 5-week course, you’ll learn how to improve safety, prevent complications, and be prepared to manage difficulties in airway management.
Understand airway assessment and safety
At the beginning of the course, we’ll discuss the meaning of airway management, how human factors and ergonomics have an impact, and the effect of a patient having COVID-19 on airway procedures.
You’ll learn how to assess an airway and what kinds of equipment you’ll be using in elective and emergency airway management. Guidelines and cognitive aids can help with decision-making and human factors in emergency airway management, so we’ll take a look at some examples.
Discover Rapid Sequence Induction for an obstructed airway
In a situation where a patient has an obstructed airway, you may need to use Rapid Sequence Induction, so you’ll learn how to use this technique to secure the airway safely and rapidly. We’ll also delve into some other special techniques including tracheal intubation and jet ventilation.
When dealing with patients, it’s important to involve them in decision-making, so we’ll discuss how to ensure clear communication and a safe strategy for complicated cases.
Explore airway management in specific scenarios
Airway management depends on many things, including the condition of the patient who requires your help. At this stage of the course, you’ll learn how airway management differs between children and adults, and how factors such as pregnancy and obesity can affect procedures.
Finally, you’ll investigate how airway management differs around the globe, from high resource to low resource settings.

What topics will you cover?

This course has been carefully designed to provide an up-to-date and practical educational experience, with learners accessing comprehensive course materials developed in collaboration with leading experts, frontline clinicians, and patients.
Week 1: Safe Airway Management, Human Factors and Ergonomics, Airway Anatomy

• Airway Safety: The Big Picture
• NAP4, Key Findings and Recommendations
• Human Factors and Ergonomics
• Anatomy: a Journey Through the Airways

Week 2: Airway Assessment and Planning, Cognitive Tools, Dealing with Emergencies

• Assess the Airway and Develop a Strategy
• Airway Equipment
• Cognitive Tools
• Can’t Intubate, Can’t Oxygenate

Week 3: Safety and Special Techniques

• Rapid Sequence Induction
• Extubation
• The Obstructed Airway
• Special Techniques: Awake Tracheal Intubation, High-Flow Nasal Oxygenation, Jet Ventilation, LASER

Week 4: The Shared Airways

• The Patient Journey
• Tracheostomies and Laryngectomies
• The Critically Ill Patient
• Prehospital Airway Management

Week 5: Airway Management in Special Circumstances

• Paediatrics
• Obstetrics
• Obesity
• A Global Perspective

Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

• Improve your strategies to deal with the unexpected difficult airway and explore guidelines to use in special circumstances.
• Identify the key learning points and recommendations from the 4th National Audit Project (NAP4) on major complications of airway management in the UK.
• Apply the principles of multidisciplinary planning, communication and teamwork in shared airways interventions.
• Describe the technical and non-technical aspects of safe airway management for patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery, and the critically ill.
• Engage in a global discussion on airway matters with health professionals from around the world.

Who is the course for?
This course, endorsed by the Difficult Airway Society, is for all members of the multidisciplinary team who provide airway support to patients, or care for patients with a compromised airway. This includes anaesthetists, anaesthesia associates, operating department practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, adult and paediatric intensivists, prehospital and emergency medicine physicians, paramedics, head and neck surgeons and members of the cardiac arrest team.
The course is in English and the learning outcomes are relevant to UK based and international colleagues.
Health professionals might find the Certificate of Achievement for this course useful for providing evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) or commitment to their career.