ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Airway management is the single most important intervention in the emergency setting. Recognising the need for a definitive airway is life saving, and therefore identification of a problem with an airway is paramount. In recent years the responsibility for tracheal intubation has shifted from anaesthetists to emergency department doctors1 who are in a better location (due to presence in the unit) to as rapidly and safely secure the airway as anaesthetists. With this change appropriate training has been required to ensure that doctors have the necessary skills and competency to manage the emergency airway. Trauma units receive a relatively high proportion of patients requiring definitive airway control, and this responsibility falls to the on-duty trauma doctors, unlike current UK practice where a significant percentage of trauma intubations are performed by anaesthetists. The purpose of this study wa