The new 2010 AHA guidelines have provided greater focus on airway issues in patients suffering from cardiac arrest. Amongst the important areas of new emphasis are: (1) Cricoid pressure is no longer routinely recommended during intubation, and in fact it has been given a Class III rating ("harmful"); and (2) there is now a very strong push to use quantitative end-tidal CO2 monitoring (rather than just qualitative confirmation) of the airway after endotracheal intubation.
