The Statewide Anaesthesia and Perioperative Care Clinical Network (SWAPNet) has developed the Statewide Difficult Airway Alert, the first of its kind in Australia, as a concise and effective communication tool to support the registration of difficult airway events and reduce the risk of future airway morbidity in at risk patients.
The publication of the Difficult Airway Alert builds on the network's long list of achievements over the past 10 years to improve the safety, quality and sustainability of anaesthesia and perioperative care services in Queensland.
Dr Ivan Rapchuk, Co-Clinical Chair, SWAPNet (pictured), noted that the Difficult Airway Alert and support document were the culmination of several months of extensive research and wide spread consultation across the public and private health sectors by the SWAPNet Difficult Airway Alert Working Group. In particular, he acknowledged the significant efforts of doctors Jane Elms and Libby McLellan (working group Co-Chairs), Nicole Fairweather, Alexander Cottle, Chris Stonell, Stacey Swinkels and Linda Beckmann and Ms Christina Hansson (The Viewer), Ms Jenny Cooper and Dr Nicholas Heard (ieMR) and Professor Keith Greenland and Dr Pierre Bradley for their expertise and advice.
The Difficult Airway Alert form is interactive, can be opened on mobile platforms or printed out and completed manually before being uploaded to The Viewer and ieMR by designated officers in hospital and health services. In time it is hoped that the Difficult Airway Alert will be available in the MyHealth Record.
"As the Co-Chair of SWAPNet, I am constantly impressed by the willingness of our clinicians to go the extra mile, to identify deficiencies and develop solutions such as the Difficult Airway Alert to improve outcomes for patients in Queensland. It is also particularly gratifying for the network to be recognised as 'innovative leaders in clinical practice improvement' by colleagues and peers at the state and national levels," Dr Rapchuk said.
The Difficult Airway Alert is available online.For more information about the Difficult Airway Alert contact us.
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