Hey friends! In today's episode we begin to talk about the primary survey in a trauma activation. This consists of airway, breathing, circulation, disability, and exposure. In this episode, we talk about airway and breathing and we will visit circulation, disability, and exposure in future episodes.  Specifically, we talk about how to identify if an airway is patent,  what to do if it is not patent, how to identify breathing emergencies, and common approaches to management of breathing emergencies in the trauma bay such as needle decompression, finger thoracostomy, and chest tube placement. 

If you are starting your trauma rotation, or are curious about how trauma activations are run, this is based on ATLS guidelines, and should apply to your Center in most cases. Again, this podcast should not serve as your primary source of education on how to perform procedures. always defer to your team, and make sure that you have the proper training before attempting any procedures on your own.