Equipment 8-306 - Gastric Tube

CMH EMS & MIH Protocols

Scope of Practice:

• Registered Nurse
• Paramedic

Indications:

• Protocol 2-044 - Airway: RSI
• Equipment 8-288 - Endotracheal Tube (ET)
• Equipment 8-486 - King Airway
• Equipment 8-522 - Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA)

Contraindications:

• Epiglottitis or Croup.
• Use orogastric route when facial trauma or basilar skull fracture.

Precautions:

• None.

Procedure:

• Assemble equipment.
• Explain procedure to patient.
• If possible, have patient sitting up.
• Use towel to protect patient’s clothing.
• Measure tube from nose, around ear, and down to xiphoid process.
• Mark point at xiphoid process with tape.
• Lubricate distal end of tube 6-8 in with water-soluble lubricant.
• Insert tube in nostril and gently advance it towards posterior nasopharynx along nasal floor.
• When you feel tube at nasopharyngeal junction, rotate inward towards the other nostril.
• As tube enters oropharynx, instruct patient to swallow.
• Pass tube to pre-measured point.
• If resistance is met, back tube up and try again. Do not force tube.
• Check placement of tube by aspirating Gastric contents or auscultating air over epigastric region while injecting 20-30 ml of air.
• Tape tube in place and connect to low Suction if needed.

CMH Pre-Hospital Services Mission: "Provide safe, exceptional, and compassionate care to our communities with an emphasis on highly trained and empowered staff."

CMH Mobile Integrated Healthcare Mission: "Provide exceptional, compassionate, and patient-centered care by a mobile collaborative team to improve patient experience, improve quality outcomes, and reduce healthcare costs."

Polk, Hickory, Cedar, & St Clair County EMS Protocols is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.