Airway, Head and Neck, and Critical Incidents
Airway assessment and strategy, shared-airway surgery, extubation, obstruction, aspiration and crisis management.
How to prepare for the current Final FRCA Written
Protect breadth for the 90 SBA paper, then rehearse concise CRQ answers that follow the command, mark allocation and printed answer lines.
Core concepts
Concept 1
Airway strategy must cover oxygenation, intubation, maintenance, extubation and rescue, with roles and trigger points agreed before induction.
Exam cue: Separate difficulty with ventilation, tracheal intubation, extubation and front-of-neck access.
Concept 2
In a critical incident, immediate physiological rescue and explicit leadership run in parallel with diagnosis, resource mobilisation and repeated reassessment.
Exam cue: For a shared airway, trace access, obstruction, fire, contamination and postoperative swelling risks through the whole procedure.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Calling an airway plan complete after naming the first device.
Guardrail: Answer the exact lead-in or command instead of reproducing a generic essay.
Persisting with repeated attempts without declaring failure, changing strategy or prioritising oxygenation.
Guardrail: Answer the exact lead-in or command instead of reproducing a generic essay.
Memory anchors
What belongs in an airway strategy?
Assessment, primary technique, oxygenation throughout, attempt limits, alternatives, emergency access, extubation and postoperative location.
What is the first priority in airway failure?
Maintain or restore oxygenation while calling for help and moving through the agreed rescue pathway.
Why is extubation a planned procedure?
Airway obstruction, swelling, bleeding and loss of access can make reintubation harder than the original airway.
What improves crisis performance?
Clear leadership, role allocation, closed-loop communication, cognitive aids and regular reassessment of physiology and diagnosis.
What follows stabilisation of a critical incident?
Definitive treatment, documentation, patient communication, team support, reporting and learning under local policy.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
A patient with previous radiotherapy has progressive stridor and a fixed supraglottic mass. Which airway plan is most appropriate?
During awake tracheal intubation, the patient becomes drowsy with upper-airway obstruction. What is the immediate priority?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
What is Pass Harbor?
Completely free exam prep for 247 UK exams.
- Practice questions
- Flashcards
- Study guides
- Mock exams
- No registration
- No paywall
- Start instantly
“No more expensive exam prep. Quality study tools should be accessible to everyone.”