MAY WE PRACTICE ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION ON THE NEWLY DEAD

Endotracheal Intubation (ETI) is a valuable procedure which must be le arnt and practised, and performing ETI on cadavers is probably the bes t way to do this, although lesser alternatives do exist. Performing ET I on a cadaver is viewed with a real and reasonable repugnance and if it is done without proper authorisation it might be illegal. Some form of consent is required. Presumed consent would preferably be governed by statute and should only occur if the community is well informed an d therefore in a position of being able to decline. Currently neither statute nor adequate informing exists. Endotracheal intubation on the newly dead may be justifiable according to a Guttman scale if the pati ent has already consented to organ donation and if further research su pports the relevance of the Guttman scale to this question. A ''mandat ed choice'' with prior individual consent as a matter of public policy is the best of these solutions, however until such a solution is in p lace we may not practise endotracheal intubation on the newly dead.