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- Recovery position for spinal injury
There are a variety of possible causes for a spinal injury. The greatest risk is damage to the spinal cord. Find out what to do and what to look for.
It’s safe to place someone in the recovery position who is not responding to you
but is breathing normally. Learn what to do.
If an adult is unresponsive and not breathing normally, you need to call 999 or 112 for emergency help and start CPR straight away. Learn what to do.
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This entry was posted on February 26, 2016.
In CPR, we use the head-tilt, chin-lift method to open the airway.
Place one hand on the victim’s forehead, and two fingers on the bony part of the jaw. Gently tilt the head backward. This will open the airway and lift the tongue off the back of the throat. Carefully lean over the victim and look, listen, and feel for breathing. If victim is breathing, continue monitoring until help arrives. If not, begin CPR.
If a cervical spine injury is suspected, then the modified jaw thrust would be used in place of "head-tilt, chin-lift" - the jaw thrust is a technique used on patients with a suspected spinal injury and is used on a supine patient.
The Jaw-thrust maneuver is a method used for opening the airway in unconscious patients |
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[edit on Wikidata] |
The jaw-thrust maneuver is a first aid and medical procedure used to prevent the tongue from obstructing the upper airways. This maneuver and the head-tilt/chin-lift maneuver are two of the main tools of basic airway management, and they are often used in conjunction with other basic airway techniques including bag-valve-mask ventilation. The jaw-thrust maneuver is often used on patients with cervical neck problems or suspected cervical spine injury.[1]
The maneuver is used on a supine patient. It is performed by placing the index and middle fingers to physically push the posterior aspects of the lower jaw upwards while their thumbs push down on the chin to open the mouth. When the mandible is displaced forward, it pulls the tongue forward and prevents it from obstructing the entrance to the trachea.[2]
Traditionally, the jaw-thrust maneuver has been considered the better alternative (rather than the head-tilt/chin-lift maneuver) when a first aider suspects that the patient may have a spinal injury (especially one to the neck portion of the spine). The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation has reviewed various studies that found no spine-protecting advantage to the jaw-thrust maneuver.[3] Its "Treatment Recommendation" under "Opening the Airway" says, "Rescuers should open the airway using the head tilt–chin lift maneuver."[3] If the patient is in danger of pulmonary aspiration, he or she should be placed in the recovery position, or advanced airway management should be used.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
- Airway management
- First aid
References[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jaw-thrust maneuver.
- ^ Surgeons, American Academy of Orthopaedic (2006). Emergency: Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 225. ISBN 9780763744069. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ Margolis, Gregg S.; Surgeons, American Academy of Orthopaedic (2003). Paramedic: Airway Management. Jones & Bartlett Learning. p. 106. ISBN 9780763713270. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ a b 2005 International Consensus Conference on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations (29 November 2005). "Part 2: Adult Basic Life Support". Circulation. 112 (22 Supplement): III-5. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.105.166472. S2CID 247577113.
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