Why More Providers Aren't Carrying Suction to the Patient
We came across a statistic recently that made us stop and think:
Less than 25% of paramedics reported carrying powered suction to the patient, despite using it during 50% of advanced airway procedures.
Read that again.
Powered suction is being used in half of advanced airway procedures, yet only a quarter of providers have it in their first-in bag.
Why?
Everyone who has managed a contaminated airway knows the importance of suction, so we started wondering if we were asking the wrong question.
Maybe the better question is “Which realities of prehospital care drive that decision?”
Every Item Has to Earn Its Place
Anyone who’s packed an airway bag knows the exercise. You start with everything you might need. Then reality sets in.
Every pound matters. Every cubic inch matters. Every new piece of equipment means something else has to give. Eventually, you’re left with only the tools that earn a place in the bag.
That’s a systems problem. Not a clinical one.
A Different Design Philosophy
That way of thinking is what drew us to AIRO. Its engineers didn’t just ask how to make a suction unit smaller. They asked a different question:
How do we build a suction unit providers will actually carry to the patient?
That question influenced every major design decision—from the compact footprint and lightweight construction to the disposable collection bag and the pump itself, which was engineered around moving fluid rather than simply maximizing airflow.
None of those decisions exist in isolation. They’re all working toward the same objective:
Removing the barriers that keep powered suction from reaching the patient.
Better Systems. Better Outcomes.
At The Resus Tailor, we spend a lot of time thinking about workflow. That’s because we believe equipment should adapt to the realities of clinical practice—not the other way around.
The more we learned about AIRO, the more we realized its engineers were asking many of the same questions we ask every day.
How do we reduce friction? How do we improve workflow? How do we increase the likelihood that the right tool is in the right place when it’s needed?
Those are questions worth asking.
Because better systems don’t happen by accident. They’re designed.
For more information about AIRO or to purchase a unit, click here.