Can emergency medical services personnel effectively place and use the Supraglottic Airway Laryngopharyngeal Tube (SALT) airway?

BACKGROUND: Various alternative airway devices have been developed in the last several years. Among these is the Supraglottic Airway Laryngopharyngeal Tube (SALT), which was designed to function as a basic mechanical airway and as an endotracheal tube (ET) introducer for blind endotracheal intubation (ETI).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the rate of successful placement of the SALT and the success rate of subsequent blind ET insertion by a cohort of emergency medical services (EMS) providers of varying levels of EMS certification.

METHODS: This study was a two-phase, two-group nonblinded, prospective time trial using a convenience cohort of prehospital providers to determine the success rate for SALT placement (i.e., the basic life support [BLS] phase) and ET placement using the SALT (i.e., the advanced life support [ALS] phase) in an unembalmed human cadaver model. The part 1 cohort (group 1) comprised predominantly basic and intermediate emergency medical technician (EMT)-level providers, whereas the part 2 cohort (group 2) comprised exclusively paramedic-level providers.

RESULTS: In group 1, 51 (98%) of the subjects were able to successfully place the SALT and ventilate the cadaver (BLS phase), with 48 (92.3%) subjects successfully placing it on the first attempt. In group 2, 21 (96%) of the subjects were able to successfully place the SALT, with 19 (86%) placing the SALT on the first attempt. Successful blind placement of an ET through the SALT (ALS phase) by group 1 was 48.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 34-62), with 37% (95% CI: 24-51) placing the ET on the first attempt. In group 2, 20 subjects (91% [95% CI: 71-99]) were able to successfully place an ET through the SALT, with 13 (59% [95% CI: 36-79]) doing so on the first attempt.

CONCLUSIONS: Emergency medical services providers of varying levels can successfully and rapidly place the SALT and ventilate a cadaver specimen. The success rate for blind placement of an ET through the SALT was suboptimal.