International Tracheostomy Symposium

Overview

What you will study

Multiple disciplines in healthcare participate in the care of patients with difficult airway anatomy or tracheostomies including surgeons, intensivists, emergency medicine, speech language pathologists, respiratory therapists and administrators. There is growing international concern over the quality of tracheostomy related care and as new technology, techniques and management strategies emerge there is often a lag in dissemination with a resulting deficit in knowledge. Reviews of tracheotomy-related adverse events both in the United States and internationally show that preventable fatal events occur despite availability of proven effective interventions. Patients with a tracheostomy are a diverse and medically complex group at risk for significant complications. In spite of this, these patients are often cared for in the wards where staff have little, if any, of the specialist skills required for managing this high-risk group. Additionally, while these patients are cared for by physicians and allied healthcare providers from multiple medical specialties, there is a lack of standardization of tracheostomy placement and management practices among providers, departments, and institutions. The International Tracheostomy Symposium course offered by Johns Hopkins University will discuss these issues.