Cricothyrotomy Kit Calculator

This calculator sizes equipment for an emergency surgical airway ("can't intubate, can't oxygenate") using the standard age-based split taught in the American College of Surgeons' Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course and PALS protocols: surgical cricothyrotomy with a cuffed tube for patients 12 and older, and needle cricothyrotomy with transtracheal jet ventilation for children under 12, whose small, still-developing cricothyroid membrane makes a surgical incision far riskier. Age is the input that decides which procedure family applies at all -- crossing the age-12 boundary switches every other output (tube size vs. needle gauge, equipment list, ventilation pressure). Within the adult/surgical branch, weight further narrows tube size: patients under 50 kg or younger than 16 receive a 5.0 mm cuffed tube instead of the standard 6.0 mm, since a smaller airway needs a smaller tube. Within the pediatric/needle branch, weight alone picks both needle gauge (16-gauge for infants under 10 kg, 14-gauge otherwise) and the recommended jet ventilation pressure, while age alone drives the recommended oxygen flow rate (roughly 1 L/min per year, capped at 15) -- each of those two ventilation settings is driven by only one of the two inputs, not both together.

The Pediatric Override lets a clinician force the needle protocol regardless of the entered age, for cases where anatomy (not chronological age) makes a surgical approach unsafe. The Contraindication Flag is a standalone safety note, independent of which procedure was actually selected: it flags any patient under age 8, reflecting that surgical cricothyrotomy is considered absolutely contraindicated at that age -- since this calculator already routes every patient under 12 to the needle protocol, the flag will always appear alongside a needle-cric result, as confirmation rather than as a warning that surgical cric was chosen in error. It does not screen for laryngeal fracture, tracheal transection, or other anatomic contraindications a clinician must assess directly. This tool sizes equipment for planning and training purposes only -- it is not a substitute for airway assessment, institutional protocols, or real-time clinical judgment during an airway emergency.