Airway Patency Vs. Protection: Delving Into the Details and Dogma

When to place a definitive prehospital airway is a question with infinite variables. This discussion will focus on the foundational reasons why EMS intubation may be both urgent and emergent. Specific focus will be placed on the differentiation between loss of airway patency and airway protection. Recent teaching has (rightfully) called into question the appropriateness of "GCS less than 8, intubate." But, before we scrap "GCS less than 8" altogether, it's worth considering some potential value in recognizing altered mental status as an obvious tenuous airway risk factor.