On February 27th, 2024 a 2-year-old girl choked on a hair clip resulting in a partial obstruction. Her mother attempted mouth sweeps as she could feel the object but was unable to get it out. Her father then grabbed LifeVac which successfully dislodged the obstruction on the third attempt. She was later examined at the emergency room and cleared with no complications. Here is her father’s account:
“First off, we are very grateful to have the LifVac as a tool and we have recommended it to all of our friends and family. Our daughter was watching tv in our living room when she started choking. You could hear her breathing but could tell there was something blocking her airway. My wife tried to sweep it out and could feel it but couldn’t grab it. She frantically yelled for me as I had just returned home from work. I looked at my daughter and went straight to get the LifeVac bag that we have hanging in our kitchen. While she was crying, we laid her down and I applied the mask to her and did two tugs and nothing. So I did it again one more time and it dislodged and my wife was able to get the small hair clip from her mouth. She cried but was conscious the whole time and was able to take deep breaths. She had some blood on her and the mask and hair clip had blood on it, so we gave her some water and took her to the emergency room. The emergency room staff and doctor had heard of LifeVac but had never seen or heard of one being used. I took it with me to show them along with the small clip that was in her mouth. They said we did the right thing. They cleared her in a few hours and said she would be fine. I work in Law Enforcement for Customs and Border Protection and we deal with thousands of travelers every day. I am going to recommend this device to our emergency medical team. We are very grateful for your help and your team.”
Jon R.
