The laryngeal mask in pre‐hospital emergency care

The role of the laryngeal mask airway (LMA) in pre‐hospital emergency care was studied prospectively. Method: Thirty ambulance officers were trained in the use of the LMA and attempted 233 insertions in the field over a 12 month period. The majority of the patients (156) had suffered cardiac arrests. The overall insertion success rate was 81%, with half the failures due to rejection of the airway by insufficiently comatose patients, and half due to other causes. Conclusion: The laryngeal mask offers an alternative to the Guedel airway and face mask and has some advantages.