Ololade Olaobaju
10 Dec 2015 · Coroner Philip Barlow · London Inner (South)
The coroner's concerns
1. inappropriate emergency airway management
“For the purposes of the inquest | received an expert report from Dr [name redacted]. Reference was also made to the Difficult Airway Society Guidelines 2004 and 2015. The DAS guidelines suggest that, for an anaesthetist, an appropriate progression would be to undertake surgical (scalpel) cricothyroidotomy after unsuccessful cannula cricothyroidotomy. In this case, an ENT surgeon (clinical fellow grade) arrived and took over before scalpel cricothyroidotomy was attempted. The ENT surgeon decided to”
2. lack of permanent airway
“The benefit of tracheostomy is that it would have provided a more permanent airway”
3. absence of joint guidance
“My understanding is that there is currently no joint guidance to cover this type of situation when both anaesthetists and ENT surgeons are present”