Build Your Own Training Space
🧰 With This Step-by-Step Guide
Hands-on, high-yield training for real-world clinicians—made simple.
Ready to teach contaminated airway management—but not sure where to start? We’ve got you. This guide was built for educators stepping into SALAD training for the first time. Our learning spaces are designed to be intuitive, portable, and effective—so you can focus on teaching, not troubleshooting.
Once you’ve set up the station a couple of times, you’ll be amazed at how quickly it comes together and how powerfully it delivers. Using The Protected Airway posters, your available airway gear, and a few clever tricks, you’ll create an immersive SALAD (Suction-Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination) station that makes messy airways manageable—and teachable.
🖼️ Step 1: Print Your SALAD Training Posters
Start strong with visuals. These high-impact, digitally enhanced infographic posters give learners immediate cues on technique, mindset, and step-by-step strategy, and they turn any space into an engaging, immersive, education environment.
📥 Download the SALAD Poster Pack (PDFs)
Poster Details
Click here for sizing, printing, mounting & storage suggestions.
Recommended Sizes
We recommend a 24” x 36” size for wall or easel display and 18” x 24” for posters that will go on station tables. These are suggestions only. You can print them in any size you need to suit your individal purposes.
Printing Options
We recommend printing the posters on Sintra (a recycled PVC) as it is the most durable. Depending on cost and portability, we recommend laminating them or printing them with a foam backing.
🪧 Poster Display Options
Help your learners engage immediately by making your SALAD posters visible and accessible. Here are affordable ways to display your training visuals in any environment:
🧱 Wall Mount Options
- Removable Poster Strips (e.g., Command™ Strips)
Damage-free hanging on most surfaces — ideal for sim labs or hospital walls. - Binder Clips + Push Pins
Clip the top of each poster and pin it to a corkboard or bulletin board. - Clear Adhesive Wall Sleeves
Stick reusable transparent sleeves to the wall and easily swap posters in and out.
🪜 Floor Poster Easels & Stands
- Tripod Display Easels
Lightweight, collapsible, and adjustable — perfect for conferences or mobile setups. - Folding Art Display Easels
Affordable, stable, and great for displaying laminated 24×36″ posters vertically. - Poster Board Foam Stands
Mount laminated posters on foam board and lean them against walls or larger easels for stability.
🧑🍳 Tabletop Display Options
- Mini Easels (Tabletop A-Frame or Art Easels)
Great for 11×17″ posters on training tables or stations with limited space. - Acrylic Sign Holders (11×17 or 8.5×11 sizes)
Use for smaller versions of posters — stable, reusable, and easy to clean. - DIY Binder Stand
Use a large 3-ring binder with laminated posters in sheet protectors, flipped open for easy reference.
Storage
If stored correctly, these posters will last for years, providing repeated opportunities for airway training. We like to store ours in these black portfolio bags from Amazon.
🧰 Step 2: Gather Your Station Gear
We’ve got you covered with a breakdown of all the specialized and standard equipment you’ll need to set up your SALAD learning space so you can begin your hands-on practice.
Specialized Equipment
Most of what you will need (like endotracheal tubes, stylets and syringes, you will likely already have available to you. This station requires some specialized equipment, so we offer some options for your here from purchasing to building your own for a lower cost option, we’ve got you covered
- ✅ SALAD capable airway trainer
- ✅ Rigid suction catheter (DuCanto preferred)
- ✅ Large-bore suction tubing & suction canister
🛠️ DIY Tip: You can modify a basic airway head with a nasal or esophageal port to feed fluid through the oropharynx.
View Purchase Options Here
The Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy and Airway Decontamination (SALAD) simulator uses suction to enhance first pass success-laryngoscopy (FPS-L) with a non-anesthetized patient in active emesis.
The SSCOR DuCanto Catheter has a larger internal diameter making it significantly less likely to clog and is shaped to fit the oropharyngeal anatomy. The hyper-curved catheter is shaped more like a patient’s airway making it easy to position the catheter.
Standard Equipment
- ✅ Video laryngoscope (standard or hyperangulated)
- ✅ Endotracheal tubes, BVM, and stylets
- ✅ Bougies or Articulating Introducers (optional)
- ✅ Supraglottic Airway Devices
- ✅ Table cover and towels for quick resets
🧪 Step 3: Mix Your Simulated Contaminant
To simulate realistic vomit for your SALAD station, use a thickened fluid that mimics the look and flow of airway contamination. Here’s a reliable, scalable recipe used in many high-fidelity training environments:
Standard Recipe (1 gallon):
- 1 gallon water (warm or room temp)
- 5 teaspoons of xanthan gum or sodium alginate powder
- Food coloring (orange, brown, green recommended)
Optional Add-ins for Texture:
- Oatmeal flakes, coffee grounds, or blended baby food to simulate chunks and increase realism
Here are the step-by-step details
Preparation Instructions:
- Add half the water to a large blender.
- Slowly sprinkle in the powder while blending to prevent clumping.
- Add coloring and optional texture agents.
- Blend thoroughly until mixture thickens evenly (1–2 minutes).
- Add remaining water and continue blending until smooth.
- Let sit for 10–15 minutes to fully hydrate.
🧠 Tip: Clumps that don’t dissolve fully often make the vomit more realistic—don’t worry about perfection.
🧊 Storage: Prepare the night before and store in large containers, squeeze bottles, or IV bags. A 1-lb container of xanthan gum or alginate yields 16–32 gallons, depending on thickness.
🧭 Step 4: Before They Arrive: Set Learners Up for Success
The learning starts before they even step into the room. A little preparation goes a long way toward maximizing hands-on time and learner confidence. Use these tools to orient your learners, set clear expectations, and make sure they show up ready to dive in.
- 📧 Use our ready-to-send learner email
Download or copy this pre-written email to explain the station’s purpose, what they’ll be practicing, and how to come prepared. It includes links, expectations, and reminders to bring a mobile device and headphones. 👉 Click here to download the learner email template - 🔗 Send them the link to the digital learning space
You can also simply share this link to the SALAD online learning space. This gives them a chance to review the learning objectives, the curriculum, and a head start on understanding the concepts, equipment, and skills they will be learning.. - 📱 Important Reminder to Bring a Mobile Device & Headphones
Learners should bring a mobile device and headphones so they can use the QR codes on the poster to access videos and checklists on the fly. This is essential! - 🗺️ Open User Guide
During training, learners can open the user guide on their device, answer questions, and earn points towards completion.
🎓 Step 5: Teach the SALAD Method
These learning spaces are advanced flipped classrooms—designed as exploratory, judgment-free zones. Whether you’re running a solo session or working as a team, start they practically run themselves, so learners can build a foundation at their own pace.
If you’re the expert in the room, let new learners explore the station first. Give them time to get hands-on, experiment, and build confidence. Then step in as the expert coach—not to demonstrate, but to challenge. Don’t show them what to do—ask them to show you what they’ve got.
Key Reminders
- Set up the space and leave it up for learners
- Let them explore before explaining
- Don’t tell them, ask them
- Be a coach not a lecturer
- Have fun!
Pro Tips
- Emphasize self-exploration and problem solving
- Encourage repetition to build muscle memory
We Can Join You
As giant flipped classroom, these pop-up space do all the heavy lifting., but we can join you remotely or in person for added coaching. We can even certify your skillset and procedural technique if you need us to. 👉 Simply inquire here
💪 You’ve Got This, We’re Here to Help
With the PAC team behind you, there’s no need to fly to a conference or rely on a high-fidelity sim lab to build contaminated airway management skills. This guide gives you everything you need to run short, high-impact SALAD sessions anytime, anywhere—on your schedule—in ambulance bays, ED hallways, conference rooms, breakrooms, or classrooms. Our mission is simple: to bring critical airway training like SALAD to the people who need it most—frontline providers delivering care in the real world, where it truly matters.
📎 Want other signage, QR materials, or feedback tools? Let us know—we’re here to support your build.
📸 Share your setup! Tag @ProtectedAirway or use #SALADstation to show how you’re training the next generation.
Great Learning, Every Time
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