What is the process of endotracheal intubation like?

You're sleep: For most patients, endotracheal intubation is performed after induction of general anesthesia. The patient is asleep and some device, usually a laryngoscope, is used to visualize the glottis and the endotracheal tube is placed. Ventilation is confirmed and the tube is secured. For some patient with possible difficult airways, the endotracheal tube maybe place with local anesthetic and sedation.

Most patients asleep: Putting a breathing tube into a patient's airway is not comfortable--think how irritating it is when even a drop of liquid goes down the wrong way! most of the time, this is done after a patient is already asleep under anesthesia. Occasionally, local anesthesia is used to numb the airway if intubation needs to be done with the patient awake for special circumstances such as neck injury.

A highly skilled one: It is the process of placing a breathing tube securely one's trachea after you are induced for anesthesia. That is, after the drugs that are usually given to start the general anesthetetic. It is done in a relatively quick manner but there is a certain amount of time and teaching needed to make sure it is done safely and w/o complication.