Association between location of prehospital intubation, complication rates and time intervals.
Emergency medicine journal · 2025-12-12 · Observational study
Abstract
BACKGROUND: It has been recommended that prehospital rapid sequence intubation (PH-RSI) be performed in locations that provide 360-degree access to the patient. We aimed to examine the success and complication rate of PH-RSI by location of intubation as well as the effect on scene time. METHODS: We conducted a single-centre, retrospective cohort study of patients with attempted PH-RSI over a 96-month period. Locations compared were intubation within the road ambulance, outside the vehicle on a stretcher, on the ground and in other locations. The primary outcome was the occurrence of major intubation complications by location. Secondary outcomes were first-pass success, time to intubation from patient contact and total scene time. Modified Poisson with robust SE variance and quantile regressions was used to adjust for confounding variables. RESULTS: Of 413 patients, major intubation complications occurred in 60 (14.5%, 95% CI 11.3% to 18.3%) patients. Patients intubated on the ground were twice as likely to have complications than patients intubated on a stretcher outside the vehicle (p=0.023) in the unadjusted analysis. First-pass success intubations occurred in 400 (96.9%, 95% CI 94.7% to 98.3%). Adjusted time from contact to intubation was not different (p=0.864) but total scene time was significantly shorter for patients intubated inside an ambulance compared with outside on a stretcher (median difference -4.0 min, 95% CI -6.5 to 1.5; p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Intubating selected patients within an ambulance had similar complication rates to intubation on a stretcher outside the vehicle but was associated with a small reduction in on-scene time.
Tags
Endotracheal intubation · Rapid sequence intubation · Time intervals