RT Book, Section A1 Brunswick, Jordan A1 Rogers, Robert A2 Stone, C. Keith A2 Humphries, Roger L. SR Print(0) ID 1176285272 T1 Compromised Airway T2 CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Emergency Medicine, 8e YR 2017 FD 2017 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071840613 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1176285272 RD 2024/03/28 AB Securing the airway and assuring adequate ventilation are the first priorities in the resuscitation of any acutely ill or injured patient.1 Without a patent airway and adequate gas exchange other resuscitative measures will almost universally be futile. Thus, attention to the airway must precede or occur simultaneously with any other type of management. The exception is the initial defibrillation in cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation, if it can be performed immediately. (Figure 10–1.)