Welcome to airwaycam.com – a portal for clinical airway management. We have been continuously involved in airway education and training for fifteen years. With the patented Airway Cam Direct Laryngoscopy Video System, invented in 1994, we pioneered routine imaging of direct laryngoscopy. Our educational products have been used in almost 4,000 institutions across 30 countries. We demystify airway anatomy and education through intensive imaging, and by defining a “best practice” approach to intubaton. Emergency airway management presents great challenges and rewards. The difference between success and failure can be life and death. As emergency care providers we’ve been there. We know the “all eyes on you” feeling during rapid sequence intubation when the drugs have been given. We have wrestled with that responsibility and appreciate first-hand how intimidating it can be. Our mission is to provide clinicians the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to successfully manage emergency airways. Since 1994, we have taught emergency physicians, hospitalists, intensivists, anesthesiologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, nurses, flight crews, and paramedics. The inventor of the Airway Cam, Dr. Richard Levitan, has given over 350 invited lectures on airway management. We have conducted airway seminars and cadaver courses around the country and the world. Whatever, your level of training, we want to help you become more confident in your ability to perform this emergency procedure and manage the difficult airway.

Dr. Levitan realized as a resident that line drawings and plastic mannequins were an inadequate way to learn intubation. Trainees only succeed in 50% of initial intubations when taught in this manner. Frustrated with inadequate mannequins, line drawings, and OR rotations (“you only get one chance, if you can’t get it, move over”), he invented a head-mounted system for imaging direct laryngoscopy and to improve his own airway skills. After years of design and development, the camera system was issued a US patent. Imaging from the camera led to video and print materials: the Airway Cam Video Series (1998-2002), the Airway Cam Guide to Intubation and Direct Laryngoscopy (2004), and the Pocket Guides to Intubation (1st ed. 2005, 2nd ed. 2007). Dr. Levitan started cadaver-based emergency airway management courses beginning in 2001 after using this model for laryngoscopy research. The on-going cadaver courses are offered monthly and have now taught almost a thousand clinicians. These classes involve a team of personnel, including faculty Dr. Kenneth Butler (University of Maryland) and Mike Sweeney, NP, and lab manager, James T. Pisaturo, EMT-P. 

The cadaver courses created the need for lots of airway equipment, and this in turn made Dr. Levitan appreciate that clinicians needed a centralized source for purchasing the right tools to achieve good outcomes. The Airway Cam online store now offers pre-packaged airway kits, and a variety of airway products and adjuncts to maximize successful ventilation and intubation. Clinicians can also create their own personalized airway kits, selecting specific tools that are most beneficial to their own clinical practice.

The web has completely transformed the possibilities of airway education.  Since our primary goal is education and improving clinical skills, we have expanded our website to include free on-line airway management education. It reviews airway anatomy, different intubation techniques, and provides a video library to see the tools and techniques used in real tissue. We hope you find this material helpful and appreciate your feedback.