Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to medical devices.
LifeVac is an anti-choking device that claims to have saved 481 lives at the time of writing this article. The device is applied to the mouth and a suction force dislodges whatever is stuck in the throat. It can be used on one’s self or applied to someone else.
In this article we’ll review medical research on LifeVac to give our take on whether it’s really more effective than the standard Heimlich maneuver. We’ll compare the device to another popular anti-choking product called the Dechoker, and share real user reviews of the LifeVac.
Does LifeVac Work?
LifeVac has been studied in several legitimate scientific journals.
A review published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine found that LifeVac was well-constructed and likely to be effective because the suction force it creates is greater than choke pressure: “The negative pressure generated by the force of the suction is 3 times greater than the highest recorded choke pressure.”
This means that theoretically the LifeVac should be effective for choking victims no matter the size or dimensions of the object they’re choking on.
A medical review published in 2020 examined data from five individual clinical trials on choking, and the researchers found that the LifeVac was the most well-studied and most effective device. On its first use, LifeVac successfully dislodges the item being choked on 94.3% of the time, according to the review.
In all three trials on the LifeVac cited in the above-linked review, the device successfully resolved choking within three uses 100% of the time. The vast majority of the time, choking was resolved on the first attempt with the LifeVac.
We will conclude from the available research that LifeVac is likely to be effective for treating choking emergencies. We cannot say it’s conclusively effective until we see research on human subjects rather than manikins (though this is unlikely because it would be impossible to sanction a study that puts a real human life at risk of choking to death).
It seems as though this device may be especially useful given that the majority of Americans aren’t trained on properly administering Heimlich maneuvers, which is the abdominal thrust motion recommended to assist choking victims. The LifeVac therefore may remove some of the human error and potentially improve choking outcomes.
LifeVac Vs. Dechoker
As we detailed in our review of the Dechoker, there is a medical trial that directly compares the effectiveness of the two devices.
That trial was published in the Resuscitation Plus journal and tested the effectiveness of both devices on a manikin with food lodged in the throat. The LifeVac was found to be more effective than the Dechoker. LifeVac removed the foreign object within 59 seconds 82.2% of the time, while the Dechoker only removed the foreign object within 59 seconds 44.4% of the time.
LifeVac was also proven in this trial to be more effective than abdominal thrusts, which suggests that it may be the only medical device on the market proven more effective than the standard Heimlich for choking victims.
Overall we would recommend the LifeVac over the Dechoker in light of this data.
How to Use the LifeVac
LifeVac has a useful video on their YouTube page detailing how to use the device. This may be useful to anyone, even those not considering purchasing the device, given that the LifeVac is often used in emergency settings:
LifeVac Real User Reviews
LifeVac has been reviewed over 8,000 times on Amazon and has an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, which is one of the highest average ratings we’ve ever noted on Illuminate Health.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “SebrinaL” who claims the LifeVac saved their daughter’s life:
“My daughter is cognitively and physically disabled. Today, my other daughter left her hot dog out and my disabled daughter must have gotten into it, we didn’t see it happen, we only saw her choking. We were able to get the hot dog out within seconds. This device saved my daughter today.”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named “Morpheus1041” who claims the device is unlikely to be effective:
“I'm an anesthesiologist, so I know how to manage airways. This device comes with two adult masks (why?) and one pediatric mask that would fit a very small child. Neither mask would fit an older child, and since fit and suction are key to the device working, I doubt very much it would be effective for that population. In addition, the plastic in the suction portion of the device is very stiff, requiring a lot of downward force to prime it. I would be very concerned about facial or skull trauma as the device is activated.”
