**2. Challenges in airway management**

Airway management in the prehospital setting has major challenges. Achieving a successful airway management requires a collection of adjustments that involve equipment, personnel and medication in a simultaneous fashion. In addition to the logistic challenges an effort in identifying the patient who need urgent advanced airway management techniques from those whom basic airway maneuvers are adequate. Over the years prehospital airway management has become progressively formalized, local and international associations in different countries has put in place guidelines to improve patient safety and standardize the process. Although there are noticeable differences in EMS infrastructure in different countries which are reflected in those different guidelines, needless to say the purpose of those guidelines is the same, with the main focus being the patient safety.

In general, most of the protocols suggest that advanced airway management techniques should only be carried out by appropriately skilled personnel, at the same time attention should focus on performing high quality basic airway maneuvers when personnel with advanced airway skills aren't immediately available.
