How to Use CPR OPA's & NPA's

Video Transcript

"Hi, My name is Alv Rios and I am a Paramedic with Lansing Mercy Ambulance on behalf of Expert Village. In this clip we are going to talk about oral pharyngeal airways and nasal pharyngeal airways also known as OPA's and NPA's. These two right here are examples of OPA's. This being an adult size and one probably would be a toddler size. They range anywhere from a small newborn infant all the way to a large adult. It's important to measure your OPA's when determining what you need for the length and size. What you want to do is measure from the angle of the jaw and go to the corner of your mouth. That's about the distance it will be. This being at the teeth line and this part going all the way down. The point of an OPA and a NPA are to keep the tongue off the back of your airway. It’s important to use this in conjunction with opening the airway manually. With this OPA the technique for inserting it will be to use a scissor technique with your fingers using your thumb and your middle finger to push on the teeth putting in it spreading the mouth open. This mannequin won't actually allow me to insert this into the airway but what you would want to do by doing the scissor technique coming in at a 90 degree angle putting this in and doing a small rotation so it eventually sets on the teeth line like this. An NPA will actually go in through the nose and is a flexible plastic tube. It will go through and come up the back of the throat and actually again keep the tongue off the back of the airway. I understand an emergency setting you will not have a commercial devices such as these OPA's or NPA's but it's important to understand to be familiar with them that way if you ever see an EMS professional using one of these adjuncts you are familiar with what the reason is behind it and the importance of it."