AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION - Oralpharyngeal airways
 
Only use with an unconscious casualty. An oralpharyngeal airway (OPA) is a curved piece of plastic that is inserted into the mouth, over the tongue, to create an air passage between the mouth and the posterior pharyngeal wall. This keeps an airway open and stops the tongue and/or epiglottis from falling back against the posterior pharynx in an unconscious casualty thereby obstructing the flow of air.

We keep a variety of sizes of OPA in our big bag and you must ensure that the correct size is used for each casualty. To do this offer up one of the OPAs to the side of the casualty's face. The correct sized OPA is the same length as the distance from the casualty's ear lobe to the corner of his mouth. If the one you initially try is too long or too short try another one.

Insert the OPA upside down, i.e. 'U' shaped, until the soft palate is reached. Rotate it 180 degrees and slip it over the tongue. Be sure not to use the OPA to push the tongue backwards and block rather than clear the airway.

  
 
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