Airway Management Supplies and Advice

Airway management may not be something that everyone thinks about, but for a person in need of such treatment, it is often a matter of life and death. Indeed, the Australian and New Zealand Committee On Resuscitation (ANZCOR) guidelines state that, “In an unconscious person, care of the airway takes precedence over any injury, including the possibility of spinal injury.”

Of course, there are those who require only short-term airway management due to an emergency situation and those who, due to injuries or a medical condition, require such assistance on a long-term basis. In either circumstance, the treatment will involve expert techniques and specialised equipment.

In the case of the latter, Joya Medical Supplies has a huge selection of premium-quality airway-management devices and accessories. But before we get to those, some basic information that everyone should know…

General Advice for Airway Management
It is not the purpose of this article to train readers in how to perform resuscitation. Please seek government-approved documentation and instruction if that is knowledge you require. However, there is some general advice contained within the ANZCOR guidelines of which we all should be aware.

• When faced with an airway-management emergency, first check the area for danger – the unresponsive patient’s condition may have been caused by something external that you yourself need to avoid.
• Try to leave the person in the same position in which you found them unless there is solid or liquid matter blocking their airway. If you have to move them, do so gently and try not to twist their neck or spine. If there is someone else present, have them support the patient’s head while you turn the body.
• To clear blockages, or if the person begins regurgitating or vomiting during treatment, carefully roll them onto their side and clear the debris or stomach contents away by hand. Then gently return them to lying on their back.

Supplies to Assist Airway Management
While the above tips are simple, the technology of airway-management devices is, thankfully, highly advanced, with an emphasis on maximising efficiency while minimising patient discomfort.

Joya Medical Supplies stocks a wide range of airways and airway masks, every sort of tubing, suction handles, manual resuscitators, nebuliser kits, oxygen masks, anaesthetic accessories, neck tapes, and much more. Depending on the type of product, there will be sizes to suit patients from infants to children to adults. Some items even come in different colours for easy differentiation.

Returning to the point about comfort, customers will find that our airway-management equipment is designed to be as unobtrusive and cause as little irritation as possible – where appropriate using non-toxic medical-grade PVC, being Latex-free, having a neutral scent, being sterile when this is required, etc.

To view and order from our extensive list of items, visit the Airway Management section of our online store. You can order any time of the day or night, and we’ll deliver promptly to anywhere in Australia.

Reference:
Australian Resuscitation Council (specifically ANZCOR Guideline 4) – https://resus.org.au/