DescriptionObjective: Development of an education model that provides a universal method for all anesthesia providers to practice administeration of cricoid pressure (CP) during airway management and continue education for clinical practice.
Background: Currently, anesthesia providers are educated on CP during their didactic training and clinical experiences. However, neither relm has a standardized method of measuring the knowledge or proficiency as there is with other emergency medicine techniques.
Study Design/Methods: A simulation mannequin was used to assess anesthesia provider knowledge and application of CP. Data sources included pre-simulation surveys gauging the participant's knowledge of CP technique, recording participant application site and force on the model, and post-simulation surveys gauging the effectiveness and quality of the active simulation model. A CP technique video was uploaded onto the Rutgers University Nurse Anesthesia Total Recall YouTube site as a method continued standard education.
Conclusion: Of the 53 anesthesia providers that participated in the simulation portion of the study, only 15% could correctly identify CP landmarks and apply appropriate force. The mean force applied was 5.34 kg. A chi-squared analysis yielding a p value of 0.001 showed strong statistically significant evidence that formalized training is associated with correct CP anatomical knowledge. 94% of participants advocated for further use of the study's CP model as a standardized method of education.