Teaching Endotracheal Intubation Using Animals and Cadavers

Introduction: The effectiveness of using supplemental teaching sessions with animals and cadavers on the acquisition of technical skills of endotracheal intubation was studied. Methods: Paramedic students were evaluated for early endotracheal skill acquisition in the operating room and by questionnaire. Results: Supplemental practice skills using either sheep or cadavers did not produce a statistically significant improvement in the percentage of successful clinical operating room intubations as compared to a group trained solely using intubation mannequins. More paramedics, certified and in practice, reported a statistically significant psychological benefit to supplemental cadaver training compared to supplemental animal (p<.05) and mannequin (p<.05) training. Conclusion: Adjunctive teaching sessions using animals or cadavers do not improve the acquisition of initial technical success in clinical intubation over the use of the mannequin alone.