Until last year, our program required each flight crew member to spend three (5 hour) days a year in the OR, regardless of how many intubations were performed on flights. One of these days had to be at the children's hospital. You could get anywhere from 2 to 8 intubations per day depending on how much OR suite hopping you wanted to do.
This past year, we went to 2 intubations per quarter no matter how you got them (ie ED, flight, OR) and one 5 hour day at the children's hospital. I was told that this number came as a compromise between CAMTS guidelines, which I think is 4 or 6 per year, and ACLS guidelines, which I think is 12 per year. I don't think these numbers are based on any data.
ACLS also suggests that the intubation success rate for each person be tracked. We monitor how many attempts it took to intubate as well as who did the intubating.
As for initial orientation, we spend a lot of days in the OR. There is no set number of tubes you have to get, it's up to the individual. I know I had at least 50 tubes before flying on my own.
If you have trouble getting into the OR because of competition with residents, etc., maybe you could speak with one of your anesthesiologists and arrange for crew members to schedule days in an outpatient surgery center. You can get a lot of tubes in a short period of time because the cases are short. The only downfall is that many anesthesiologists are now using LMA's for short cases. But either way, LMA experience is a bonus too.
Hope this is helpful.
Kim Craney, RN
LifeLine
Indianapolis, IN
BK117LL2@aol.com
