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Emergency Airway Checklist for ED Intubation

A free four-step checklist for preparation, timeout, intubation, Plan B, and post-airway care. Built for EM residents, faculty, simulation educators, and airway teaching.

Open interactive checklistDownload one-page PDF

How to use this on shift

  1. Open Quick Hits or the interactive checklist before medications are pushed.
  2. Use Prep and Timeout to name physiology risk, roles, Plan A/B/C, and post-intubation sedation.
  3. Use the apnea timer and Plan B threshold to force a meaningful change after a failed attempt.
  4. Use Post-Airway and DOPES if the tube is in and the patient gets worse.

How to teach this in simulation

  1. Use the four phases as the prebrief structure.
  2. Assign one learner to run the room script while another manages equipment.
  3. Pause after the first failed attempt and ask what changed.
  4. Debrief using one behavior to preserve and one behavior to change.

Localize this checklist

Replace medication defaults, airway cart locations, ventilator defaults, EMS constraints, and escalation pathways with local ED, anesthesia, ICU, RT, pharmacy, pediatric, and EMS policy.

Checklist phases

Preparation

Equipment, physiology, position, people, and backup plans ready before medications are pushed.

Timeout

Shared mental model: indication, physiology, medications, approach, and contingency.

Airway

Oxygenate, induce, obtain a clean view, identify landmarks, pass deliberately, and prove placement.

Post-Airway

Prevent the post-intubation crash: sedation, ventilator, oxygenation, hemodynamics, tube depth, and debrief.