It’s difficult to compare the effectiveness of different choking first aid devices because doing so requires reviewing data gathered from real-life emergencies or experiments performed on cadavers and mannequins.
In one review of self-reported choking emergencies between 2014 and 2020, researchers at an NYU Langone Health clinic found the LifeVac was effective for 38 of the 39 people who reported using it. (A person administering first aid used the device to remove an obstruction blocking the throat of the 39th choking person, who ultimately did not regain consciousness.) Another evaluation found that the LifeVac was successful in 123 out of 124 cases—in the 124th case, the mask fell off the bellows. A bystander ultimately used another technique to clear the choking victim’s airway. For its part, LifeVac claims its device saved 299 children under the age of 5 between 2012 and 2022, with no reported failures.
In a comparative study of the LifeVac and a top competitor, called the Dechoker, a group of scientists who deployed both devices on a cadaver found that the LifeVac failed to dislodge grapes and cashews from the body’s throat—it could only remove saltine crackers. Because the cadaver was only recently deceased, the researchers were able to see that the device caused some swelling in the airway.
Ultimately, experts agree that more data is needed to determine the true efficacy of these devices. The general consensus is that none of the reported evidence supports the use of these devices as an alternative to well-established first aid techniques for choking. Whether they are a worthwhile supplement to the standard choking first aid protocol remains an open question.
“There exist minimal systematic, unbiased trials that test the effectiveness of anti-choking suction devices and current case report data is incomplete and tends towards a positive voluntary reporting bias,” concluded the authors of a 2020 review. And members of the airway task force for the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation noted, “There is a need for further evidence on the benefits and harms of suction-based airway clearance devices.”
Further examining the potential harms is critical, researchers say. According to Apoorva Ramaswamy, an assistant professor in the department of otolaryngology at Ohio State University and a co-author of the cadaver study, each attempt to dislodge a stuck object causes the throat to swell—meaning that the next airway-clearing effort is less likely to be successful.
Swelling can complicate subsequent rescue attempts. “We have a rule of thumb that if someone has failed to get an airway twice, then you go to the most experienced person in the room automatically,” she said. “Because any further and you run the risk of having a more dangerous setting where even the most skilled person in the room might not be able to get it.”
