Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination (SALAD): A technique for improved emergency airway management

Christopher W Root; Oscar J L Mitchell; Russ Brown; Christopher B Evers; Jess Boyle; Cynthia Griffin; Frances Mae West; Edward Gomm; Edward Miles; Barry McGuire; Anand Swaminathan; Jonathan St George; James M Horowitz; James DuCanto

doi:10.1016/j.resplu.2020.100005

Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination (SALAD): A technique for improved emergency airway management

Resusc Plus. 2020 May 21:1-2:100005. doi: 10.1016/j.resplu.2020.100005. eCollection 2020 Mar-Jun.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, MSC11 6025, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87106, USA.
² Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Center for Resuscitation Science, The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, USA.
³ Southlake Fire Department, 600 State St, Southlake, TX, 76092, USA.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medical Services, Stony Brook Medicine, 101 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY, 11746, USA.
⁵ School of Health Technology and Management, Stony Brook University, 101 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY, 11746, USA.
⁶ University of Wisconsin Medflight, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, 53792, USA.
⁷ Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 111 South 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA.
⁸ Department of Anaesthesia, North Bristol NHS Trust, Southmead Road, Bristol, BS10 5NB, UK.
⁹ Department of Anaesthesia, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Emergency Medicine, St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center, 703 Main St, Paterson, NJ, 07503, USA.
¹¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, 525 E 68th St, Room M130, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
¹² Department of Medicine, New York University Langone Health, 550 1st Avenue, 14th Floor, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
¹³ Department of Anesthesiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.

Abstract

Emergency airway management is often complicated by the presence of blood, emesis or other contaminants in the airway. Traditional airway management education has lacked task-specific training focused on mitigating massive airway contamination. The Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination (SALAD) technique was developed in order to address the problem of massive airway contamination both in simulation training and in vivo. We review the evidence describing the dangers associated with airway contamination, and describe the SALAD technique in detail.

Keywords: Airway management; Anesthesia resuscitation; Emergency medicine; Intensive care; SALAD, (Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination).

Publication types

Review