Airway Establishment

Securing the airway and assuring adequate ventilation are the first priorities in the resuscitation of any acutely ill or injured patient. 

Without a patent airway and adequate gas exchange other resuscitative measures will almost universally be futile.

Thus, attention to the airway must precede or occur simultaneously with any other type of management.

The exception is the initial defibrillation in cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation, if it can be performed immediately.