Stridor and upper-airway obstruction
Recognise a threatened airway and summon experienced help promptly.
Clinical learning outcomes: Awaiting named clinical review.
What you should learn
- Identify airway obstruction or worsening respiratory effort.
- Explain initial priorities and why unnecessary delay or distress can be harmful.
Recognise and explain
- Causes differ by age and include infection, allergy, foreign body and bleeding.
On your placement
Rehearse recognition and calling for help in simulation. Observe real airway care in the role agreed with the team.
- Rehearse the emergency call and airway-team referral in simulation.
- Discuss assessment from observation before attempting an examination.
- Review the age-appropriate local airway pathway with a clinician.
Observe and understand
- Observe specialist airway assessment and management; invasive airway procedures are not independent student tasks.
Observation does not establish competence to perform these activities.
Start here
RCUK: recognising airway obstruction
Read the underlying principles and Airway (A) section. Rehearse recognising obstruction and asking for expert help; advanced airway treatment is team-led.
Current guidance
RCUK: stridor when anaphylaxis is suspected
Use the recognition and initial-treatment sections if anaphylaxis is suspected; it is one possible cause of stridor.
On your next shift
Identify who you would call first and what you would tell them.
Go deeper
Optional material. Advanced resources extend discussion; they do not define independent student practice. Check the publication date and compare clinical advice with current guidance.
MLA: assess, act and reassess
Recognise airway compromise and seek immediate help.
RCUK adult advanced life support 2025
Optional background on the resuscitation team’s decisions, reversible causes and advanced treatment; these are not independent student tasks.
How this relates to GMC graduate outcomes and the MLA
These are St Emlyn’s learning connections, not a claim that this page covers every national requirement.
Presentations and conditions: Stridor; Choking.
Clinical and professional capabilities: Assessment and clinical reasoning; Recognising limits and seeking help.
St Emlyn’s interpretation of relevant GMC graduate outcomes and MLA themes; these are summary labels, not official topic codes or a complete curriculum.
Explore the student placement programme
Student practice and graduate expectations
About this resource and its review
A St Emlyn’s guide to learning Emergency Medicine during undergraduate placements. It is not an official medical-school or GMC curriculum. Your medical school’s curriculum and assessment requirements take precedence.
National foundations: GMC Outcomes for Graduates, the practical-skills supplement and the MLA content map applying from September 2026.
Framework checked: 8 October 2026. This is a source check, not clinical sign-off.
Clinical learning outcomes: awaiting named clinical review.
The four learning routes are St Emlyn’s groupings. The six interconnected MLA domains remain part of the official content map.