Comparing Two Airway Methods During Hospital Heart Emergencies

When a patient's heart stops beating in the hospital, doctors need to quickly secure their airway to help them breathe. This trial is testing whether a simpler airway device (called a supraglottic airway) works as well as or better than a more complex procedure (endotracheal intubation) during these life-threatening emergencies. The trial will compare how well each approach works in real hospital settings with diverse patient populations.

Most guidance on airway management during cardiac arrest comes from studies of people who had heart attacks outside the hospital, but hospital patients are often different—they're older, sicker, and already being cared for by trained medical teams. Research from out-of-hospital emergencies suggests the simpler airway device might work just as well or even better, but no one has tested this idea yet in hospitals, so doctors need this trial to know which approach to use.