What are the two methods to assess airway, and which one do you use when suspecting a c-spine injury?

• A. Head tilt chin lift; Jaw thrust (C-spine)
• B. Jaw thrust (C-spine) and Head tilt chin lift
• C. Oropharyngeal airway insertion and nasal airway
• D. Suctioning and laryngoscopy

Answer: (B)

Opening the airway in a trauma patient comes down to two manual maneuvers. The head tilt–chin lift is used when there’s no suspicion of cervical spine injury; it tilts the head back and lifts the chin to realign the airway for easy breathing. If a cervical spine injury is suspected, you substitute a jaw-thrust maneuver with in-line stabilization of the neck to open the airway while keeping the spine neutral and protected.

That combination matches the correct approach: jaw-thrust with cervical spine stabilization for potential spine injury, and head tilt–chin lift for non-spine injury scenarios. The other options aren’t aimed at opening the airway in the initial assessment—they’re airway adjuncts or more advanced steps (or suctioning/visualizing the airway via laryngoscopy), not the basic opening maneuvers used to assess patency.