Will Video Laryngoscopy become the norm?

[u/Radiant_Alchemist]

I love VL. They make standard laryngoscopes look brutal. They're less traumatizing, they give a better view, they have a better first-pass success. Sure you need to learn direct laryngoscopy but let's say in 5 years from now will they be used as routine in OR and ER intubations? Or will they be saved for hard cases?

I've been told that the equipment tends to suck and that we won't have VL as available as in the current department that I'm working so I should stick to Macintosh and McCoy.

[u/Aquamans_Dad]

I think it has been the norm for at least ten years. 

Why subject patients in an emergency situation to an inferior method when a superior method is readily available? 

[u/makes_nosense → u/[deleted]]

You should absolutely be able to DL someone. Technology does and will fail. Or, what happens when one of your partners forgets to put the screen on the charger and it’s dead when you go to use it? VL should always be first line in my opinion. However, you should be proficient in all types of airway management.

[u/Aquamans_Dad → u/makes_nosense]

Practise DL during an anesthesia rotation with stable elective patients. If you’re intubating in the ED it is by definition an emergency. Don’t use an inferior method on an unstable patient in an emergency for educational purposes.