The Difficult Airway App vs STAT EM
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Difficult Airway App
This medical app assists clinicians in managing emergency airways by providing rapid drug selection and dosing for RSI. It offers decision-making support with algorithms and mnemonics for difficult airways, along with educational resources.
- Adult and pediatric drug dosing for RSI
- Obesity and hemodynamic adjustments
- Broselow-Luten color system integration
- Difficult airway algorithms and predictors
- Step-by-step RSI guidance
- Customizable drug formulary
- Airway anatomy illustrations
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The Difficult Airway App (v.3.3) The Difficult Airway App™ is an essential tool for clinicians who manage emergency airways in any setting: the ED, ICU, in-patient unit or the many EMS practice environments. THE RIGHT DRUGS, THE RIGHT DOSES, THE RIGHT WAY! This app rapidly and easily selects the right drugs for RSI, automatically adjusting for obesity and hemodynamics. Pediatric dosing and equipment selection is a snap using the Broselow-Luten color system or the child's estimated weight. Stay out of trouble! The Difficult Airway App™ guides the user quickly and easily through important algorithms, predictors of the difficult airway, and the step-by-step approach to RSI taught in The Difficult Airway Course: Emergency™. The Difficult Airway App™ features: EASY, YET SOPHISTICATED ADULT AND PEDIATRIC DRUG DOSING • For adult dosing, a few simple clicks bring you to recommended doses that incorporate patient weight, body habitus and hemodynamics. • The pediatric drug dosing function incorporates the color-coded system created by James Broselow, MD and Robert C. Luten, MD for rapid, safe management of pediatric airway cases. • The option to customize your formulary means that only the drugs you use will appear in the recommendations. DECISION-MAKING SUPPORT • Straight-forward algorithms allow you to quickly determine the best approach to your patient’s airway. • Easy mnemonics walk you through predictors of a difficult airway, including difficult laryngoscopy (LEMON), difficult BMV (ROMAN), difficult extraglottic device use (RODS) and difficult cricothyrotomy (SMART). • Pearls of wisdom, based on evidence and expert opinion, are offered throughout. RAPID SEQUENCE INTUBATION • The 7 – Ps of RSI: a step-by-step guide for adult and pediatric patients. • Adult and pediatric RSI drug dosing. EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES • Richly detailed illustrations of the airway anatomy. • Links to information about The Difficult Airway Courses™. Created by Ron M. Walls, MD, Michael F. Murphy, MD and Robert C. Luten, MD. With significant updates by Calvin A. Brown III, MD.
STAT EM
This medical app provides medication calculations for patients from neonates to adults, featuring updated evidence-based algorithms and emergency medication dosing. It includes pediatric oral antibiotic guidelines, neonatal resuscitation management, and an augmented reality feature for weight estimation. Future updates will allow users to save favorite content.
- Medication calculations (neonates to adults)
- Pediatric oral antibiotic guidelines
- Updated evidence-based algorithms
- Neonatal resuscitation management
- Adult emergency medication calculations
- AR weight estimation feature
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We’re excited to offer STAT EM, an enhanced version of Pedi STAT, providing medication calculations for neonates to adults. To keep giving you the most up to date content, we’ve moved to a subscription model to keep our app free of advertising. This new version contains pediatric oral antibiotic guidelines and dosing, updated evidence-based algorithms, and neonatal resuscitation management. It also includes adult emergency medication calculations including both weight-based and fixed dosing volumes. We’ve added an AR feature allowing you to use your device to measure the length of child to assist in weight estimations. Finally, you will soon have the ability to save favorites to assist you in finding the content you use most frequently. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: STAT EM at Free against The Difficult Airway App's $4.99. STAT EM also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 10 months). The Difficult Airway App's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#33 vs #163). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
STAT EM is free to download; The Difficult Airway App costs $4.99 up front. STAT EM sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. The Difficult Airway App asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for The Difficult Airway App against 4.1 for STAT EM. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 22 and 9 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 31% of The Difficult Airway App's written reviews are positive against 33% of STAT EM's.
The Difficult Airway App ships an update every 10 months, STAT EM every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Difficult Airway App | STAT EM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (22 ratings) | 4.1 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 31.3% of reviews | 33.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 22 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid — better | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | #33 — better | #163 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Airway Management Education Center | James M Kempema MD PA |
Customer experience
The Difficult Airway App
STAT EM
In-app purchases
The Difficult Airway App
No in-app purchases
STAT EM
- STAT EM Monthly$0.991 Month
- STAT EM Annual$7.991 Year
Questions
Is The Difficult Airway App free?
Is STAT EM free?
Which has better reviews, The Difficult Airway App or STAT EM?
Do The Difficult Airway App or STAT EM have ads?
Which is updated more often, The Difficult Airway App or STAT EM?
Which is more popular, The Difficult Airway App or STAT EM?
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