RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — A former Army combat medic and Eastern Kentucky University alum is impacting the level of care provided by paramedics with an intubation tool he designed. He returned to campus to speak to students and make an equipment contribution to the Emergency Medical Care program.
During his time as a combat medic, Andrew Napier, M.D. saw a lot in a deployment to Afghanistan.
“Those are my friends that are out in the rocks in Afghanistan that, you know, we're putting tourniquets on, that we're intervening on to save their life,” he said. “That's not just a patient, that's not a number, that's my friend.”
During this time, Napier saw firsthand the importance, and difficulty, of managing an airway in medicine.
“I did watch a soldier succumb to wounds that he sustained a battle because we did not have the right tool to be able to manage his airway,” Napier told the students. “That moment never left me.”
After his service, Napier earned a degree in biomedical sciences from EKU. Combining his experience in the Army with his education, he designed a tool that helps medical professionals see more clearly during the intubation process.
“To be able to place a breathing tube you have to be able to see where you're going and what you're doing,” he said. “To be able to clear off that lens during that intubation changes that game.”
Students like Christopher Block, who is a senior in the paramedic program, had the opportunity to learn more about the IntuBlade devices Napier invented.
“I think it's a really neat innovative device that hopefully could revolutionize the game,” he said. “We're supposed to be the future leaders of EMS with the program, that's what they strive for.”
Napier announced that IntuBlade will be donating a fleet of its video laryngoscopes to EKU's Emergency Medical Care simulation lab and program for students to use.
“We're looking for an opportunity here for us to not just donate devices, it's for us to be able to improve the level of care these paramedics are providing,” Napier said.
