We are delighted to announce that earlier this year the Intersurgical i-gel O2 Resus Pack* was included in the US Military Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) guidelines for securing an airway in the Tactical Evacuation (TACEVAC) phase of care.
TCCC is the standard of care for Prehospital Battlefield Medicine and TACEVAC relates to the care given to a casualty whilst still under fire on the battlefield. The Committee on TCCC issue and regularly update guidelines. These guidelines include airway management and the use of supraglottic airways.
The original TCCC guidelines were published in 1996 and an update in 2012 reaffirmed support for the use of SADs for the TACEVAC phase of care, but did not recommend a specific device, as they did not feel there was sufficient evidence at the time to do so. However, in the latest update, i-gel has been designated as the 'preferred Extraglottic Airway (EGA)' as it was decided it had a number of characteristics that make it favourable for use on the battlefield.
They concluded that current evidence suggests the i-gel performs as well or better than the other SADs available and has other advantages in:
• Ease of training
• Size & weight
• Cost
• Safety
• Simplicity of use
The gel-filled cuff in the i-gel both eliminates the need for cuff pressure monitoring during flight and reduces the risk of pressure-induced neuropraxia to cranial nerves in the oropharynx and hypopharynx as a complication of SAD use.
The latest changes to the TCCC guidelines does the following things:
• Adds extraglottic airways (EGAs) as an option for airway management in Tactical Field Care;
• Recommends the i-gel as the preferred EGA in TCCC because its gel-filled cuff makes it simpler to use than EGAs with air-filled cuffs and also eliminates the need for monitoring of cuff pressure;
You can find all of the above details confirmed in the abstract of the article,
'Extraglottic Airways in Tactical Combat Casualty Care: TCCC Guidelines Change 17-01 28 August 2017 published in the
Journal of Special Operations Medicine by Otten EJ, Montgomery HR, Butler FK Jr.
For further information regarding i-gel
® and the i-gel O2 Resus Pack please visit
www.i-gel.com or
contact us.
We also offer an extensive range of airway management devices and accessories. Please visit our relevant product pages or
contact us for further information.
* i-gel O2 Resus Pack contents vary in specific markets; in the USA the pack does not contain the suction tube.
