A new piece of technology is giving first responders in the North Country a visual advantage. The King Vision Laryngoscope is a tool that allows crews to see inside a patient's airway. YNN's Carmella Mataloni spoke with emergency responders on how this equipment could be the difference between life and death.

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THOUSAND ISLANDS, N.Y.--In an emergency situation, time is critical, especially when a patient can't breathe. A new scope is allowing emergency crews at Thousand Islands Rescue the ability to place a breathing tube more efficiently.

"The ability of King Vision is to see the video of those landmarks during the placement of the endotracheal tube is much better than what we are still calling the old fashion way," said Rolly Churchill, Thousand Islands EMS Chief.

That old fashioned way left EMTs finding a way to position themselves in order to see the airway. But now a video monitor at the top of the scope shows them exactly where the tube is going.

"You can stand in the same position that you're comfortable in and you can visualize the vocal chords," said Pamela Jones, EMT Critical Care.

"It will give a faster, more accurate visualization and proof that the endotracheal tube is actually been placed correctly in that very critical situation," said Churchill.

Thanks to community donations, TIERs is one of few ambulance services with the King Vision. Officials say in the medical field it's important to keep up with technology and being able to see inside the airway is just part of what this scope can do.

One of the added perks of this King Vision is that you can actually connect it to your smart phone to record the insertion of the endotracheal tube to show doctors once you get to the E.R.

"You can video the type of trauma that the person has in their airway, you can show swelling or any other kind of difficult airway you have proof of it," said Jones.

Now that training has been completed by EMTs, they can begin to utilize them. Officials expect to put the equipment to the real test, starting next week.