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Leather covered case with lid open to show intubation tools arranged inside.

George Ermold Surgical Instruments, New York, c. 1898

Courtesy National Museum of American History

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Choose any one of the zones to learn about the instruments.

Row of seven hard rubber intubation tubes arranged by length.

Hard rubber intubation tubes arranged by length

Courtesy National Museum of American History

Cross section of mouth and neck anatomy, with an instrument reaching through the mouth to reach an intubation tube in the throat.

Cross section of mouth and neck anatomy.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

1. Intubation Tubes

This kit includes seven hard rubber intubation tubes that vary in their lengths and widths in order to accommodate the windpipe of children up to age 12. The tube has an elliptical, enlarged head and bulging middle, designed to keep it in place in the throat. The illustration shows the placement of the inserted tube in the windpipe

Metal insertion tool with tube holding attachment and intubation tube assembled for insertion in patient.

Metal insertion tool

Courtesy National Museum of American History

A hand holding a long tool with the thumb placed on a notch on its handle with elongated neck that curves down on its end where a tube is attached.

A hand holding an insertion tool

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

2. Metal Insertion

The metal insertion tool has a tube holding attachment (bent end) where the black intubation tube is fitted. The long neck of the tool is long enough to reach into the patient’s mouth and insert the tube in the patient’s windpipe.

Metal mouth gag tool used to hold the mouth open during intubation procedure.

“Proper position of operator and attendants” from Intubation of the Larynx, Frank E. Waxman, 1888

Courtesy National Museum of American History

Front view of a seated woman holding a child in her lap; a man stands behind her holding the child’s head; a tool holds the child’s mouth open.

Metal mouth gag

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

3. Mouth Gag

The mouth gag tool keeps the patient’s mouth open for inserting or extracting the intubation tube. The illustration shows how a young patient is held securely by a person, behind whom another individual stands and holds the patient’s mouth open using the gag tool.

An L-shaped metal extracting tool with a long handle with a lever, which curves at ninety degree and ends with a pincer tip.

L-shaped metal extracting tool.

Courtesy National Museum of American History

Fig. 13 tubes-lef shows a long tool with a handle, a lever in the neck area and curved section with a pincer end.

O’Dwyer’s improved extractor

Courtesy National Library of Medicine

4. Extraction

The extraction tool has a pincer end that grabs the intubation tube from the throat before pulling it out of the patient. The illustration shows how the lever by the handle operates the pincer for latching onto the tube.