Reasonable advice to keep in mind, although that said, I maintain a NPA (Naso-Pharyngeal-Airway), OPA (Oral-Pharyngeal-Airway), Combitube (similar to a cuffed endotracheal tube), and a cricothyrotomy (emergency tracheotomy) kit in my GSW/trauma bag.

That said, I realize the likelyhood of me ever needing any of these items is extremely remote (and clearly beyond my CPR/AED/WFASRM certification) although I can think of very few things that would be worse than watching helplessly as a close friend or loved one suffocates due to a traumatic injury.

An cricothyrotomy is clearly the most invasive procedure listed above, yet there are numerous reported instances of cricothyroidotomies having been performed successfully by untrained individuals using scissors, hunting knives, razor blades, broken glass, and even the jagged edge of a lid from a tin can. There is even one case I know of where a suffocating 55 year old man performed a cricothyrotomy on himself with a steak knife (and this was actually the second time that he had successfully done it to himself).

An additional case for having some or all of these items in a FAK would be the instance where a trained medical professional (doctor, nurse, or EMT) is on-site and available to help someone, but does not actually have the necessary items available.

While the risk of injuring someone further while attempting to render first aid is always a possibility, sometimes it is the best/only option. While it is always advisable to stabilize/immobilize an individual with a possible spinal cord injury, I'd like to think that very few of us would actually stand around watching an unconscious victim burn to death in a vehicle accident because we were afraid we'd harm them by pulling them from the fire.

Jim