Translation and application of guidelines into clinical practice: A colour-coded difficult airway trolley

An unanticipated difficult airway needs immediate and well-coordinated management to maintain oxygenation and avoid a poor patient outcome. In addition to medical knowledge, technical skills, competencies and performance, human factors contribute substantially to success during unanticipated difficult airway management. Human factors can be influenced by cognitive aids like algorithms. These algorithms can be further enhanced by using a strong visual stimulus like colour coding to provide easy and fast orientation. Colour coding as cognitive aid is recommended in some difficult airway guidelines but the translation into clinical practice is underreported. This article describes the application of colour coding for cognitive aids to facilitate the management of an unanticipated difficult airway and its further local implementation in the form of a colour-coded difficult airway trolley.