The Airway Course for Critical Care and Emergency

Accredited by ACEM, CICM and ACRRM

Bookings open soon

ACE

The Airway Course for Critical Care & Emergency (ACE) has been specifically designed for critical care and emergency trainees as well as for more senior clinicians who want to refresh and practise their airway skills.

In conjunction with the faculty responsible for developing the highly successful National Airway Training Course for Anaesthetic Trainees (NATCAT), Consultant Emergency Physicians and Intensivists have developed this course to meet the specific needs of airway practitioners in the emergency and critical care setting.

Bookings open soon

Learning Outcomes

Learn a focused approach to examining the airway, what the airway tests actually mean and how to use the information gathered to execute your airway plan successfully.

  • Learn and practise a structured approach to the unexpected difficult airway

  • Learn and practise a structured, hands on approach to the Can’t Intubate, Can’t Oxygenate (CICO) scenario

  • Explore topics specific to airway management in the ED / Critical Care environment

  • Practise all the airway skills at skill stations in small groups

Skills Covered

  • Optimising bag-mask ventilation

  • Correct LMA choice and optimising ventilation through the LMA

  • Direct and indirect laryngoscopy using a variety of blades and videolaryngoscopes

  • The use of intubating adjuncts e.g. bougie

  • Intubating through an intubating LMA blind and fibrescope assisted

  • Performing and oxygenating through a needle cricothyroidotomy, using a Melker kit and performing a cricothyroidotomy using a scalpel and bougie

All participants will have the chance to consolidate these skills in a series of fully immersive scenarios in the state of the art simulation centre using high fidelity SimMan 3G mannequins. ACE is unique in that this high fidelity simulation component comprises 25% of the whole course.

Program Duration

1 day 08:15-17:30 hrs. Please arrive 15 mins early to allow for registration

Location

Sunshine Simulation Centre Level 2, Western Centre for Health Research and Education (WCHRE) building

Sunshine Hospital, 176 Furlong Rd, St Albans VIC 3021

Course Accreditation

  • Accredited by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine for a total of 9.5 CPD points, activity number 13/050

  • Accredited by the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand as a Category 2B: Active or Interactive Small Group Learning Activity – 2 CPD points per hour

  • Accredited by the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand as part of the curriculum for trainees for the College of Intensive Care Medicine

  • Accredited by the Australian College of Rural & Remote Medicine for the following points and MOPS: 30 PRPD +30 EM MOPS + 30 AN MOPS and qualifies for a 1 day grant in either anaesthetics or emergency medicine

Registration

Registration for the 2026 ACE Course will open soon.

Further Information

For further questions, please email Dr Adriano Cocciante (course convenor).

2026 Course Dates

• 8 August 2026 - Melbourne

Course Content

Module 1: Planning for success
Module 2: Airway skills
Module 3: Can’t intubate, can’t oxygenate (CICO)
Module 4: Simulation sessions

Each module is 90 min in duration
All participants will rotate through all 4 modules during the course

Cost

$700 (inclusive of course notes, materials and catering)

Cancellation and Refund Policy

No refunds, transfers or credits will be given for non-attendance or cancellation within ten (10) working days of the course. Prior to this, refunds will incur a $100 cancellation fee (includes course manual cost) or you may apply to transfer to another course in the same calendar year at no fee.

All cancellations / transfers / refund enquiries are to be forwarded in writing via email: whs-ceadmin@wh.org.au