Longitudinal and Regional Trends in Paramedic Student Exposure to Advanced Airway Placement: 2001–2011

AbstractObjectives. The primary aims of this study were to determine whether the frequency of placement, type of advanced airway, and settings of advanced airway placement (clinical vs. field) have changed for paramedic students over the last 11 years, and to describe regional differences regarding the same set of variables. Methods. This study was a retrospective review of prospectively reported airway procedures documented by paramedic students in Fisdap (http://www.fisdap.net). Students were included if they graduated from a paramedic program, had procedure entries verified by a preceptor, and provided consent for research. Exclusion criteria included students who had a total number of airway placements ≥2 standard deviations from the mean or had 0 airway placements recorded, and programs with <10 graduating students total over the study period. Airway device types and educational settings were descriptively compared over the 11-year study period by year and region. Results. A total of 8,934 paramedic ...