Airway Management

Techniques and maneuvers used to establish, maintain or secure a clear passage for breathing, whether manually, mechanically or through a placed device, rather than a technique whose primary purpose is pain relief, unconsciousness or circulatory support. This includes airway management broadly and the ABC primary-survey framework it opens, methods of securing an airway with a device (endotracheal intubation, tracheal intubation, intubation, laryngeal mask airway, laryngoscopy, cricothyrotomy, cricoidectomy, and rapid sequence induction, the technique that combines rapid drug administration with immediate intubation), manual airway-opening maneuvers (head tilt/chin lift, jaw-thrust maneuver, cricoid pressure), and pressure-based breathing support delivered without full mechanical ventilation (continuous positive airway pressure). A device or technique whose primary purpose is delivering oxygen, supporting circulation or reviving a patient in cardiac or respiratory arrest, rather than opening or securing the airway passage itself, is grouped instead under resuscitation and life support.