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Cricothyroidotomy is an emergency procedure performed on patients with severe respiratory distress in whom attempts at orotracheal or nasotracheal intubation either have failed or were deemed to have an unacceptable level of risk. The procedure in-volves making an incision in the cricothyroid membrane, which lies between the thyroid and cricoid cartilages, and inserting a tracheostomy tube into the trachea to allow ventilation. The major indication for cricothyroidotomy is the inability to establish an airway through orotracheal or nasotracheal intubation, which may be due to difficult pa-tient anatomy, excessive blood in the mouth or nose, massive facial trauma, or air-way obstruction resulting from angioedema, trauma, burns, or a foreign body ob-structing the airway. The rate of failed emergency department intubations and subsequent surgical airway management is lower than 0.6%.1 In the emergency department, cricothy-roidotomy has been used for 1.0 to 2.8 % of all intubation attempts in patients with trauma.2-4 Whenever possible, cricothyroidotomy should be performed by physician