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Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

insiderlouisville.com

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Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#21

Post by eridius »

lazyant wrote: post #16

> the instructor told him frankly that the victim would die. He researched the subject thoroughly and found that there was absolutely no other solution to choking besides the Heimlich maneuver maybe I've seen too many movies, but what about the old knife and ball pen Tracheotomy?

I've always been rather skeptical about how well that would actually work in practice. But even if it does, presumably the person still needs immediate medical care, as having a hole cut open in their throat is still a pretty serious condition. If you're 100 miles out at sea, you're probably not going to do so well trying to breath through a makeshift tube from a hole in your throat.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#22

Post by DanielStraight »

claar wrote: post #9

A comment on the article mentions a competitor at http://lifevac.net : "There is another version of this type of device that has been around (FDA approved) for a couple of years now. It's called LifeVac and it has been adopted by several fire departments, schools, skilled nursing facilities and families all across the eastern seaboard as well Europe and Canada. Only costs $69.95 and even that number can come down wit…

Worth noting that the Dechoker covers a wider age range. LifeVac says not recommended under 40 pounds (probably age 3-5), Dechoker goes down to 6 months with the toddler version.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#23

Post by chipgap98 »

ecaron wrote: post #19

For $150, it seems very overpriced to me. I expected this to be in the $30 range. Am I missing some profound piece of engineering that warrants this price? Or is more of a "I think I can charge $X and make s 9x profit" move (which I don't fundamental object to.)

I feel like it might be some of the latter. "You can't really put a price on a human life" and therefore they can overcharge a bit

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#24

Post by dragonwriter »

lungthrowa wrote: post #11
aroch wrote: post #6

Isn't applying negative pressure to the lung also a great way to collapse it?

If this thing can apply negative pressure to a lung, the airway isn't totally obstructed.

> If this thing can apply negative pressure to a lung, the airway isn't totally obstructed.

Conversely, the instant this thing succeed in dislodging an obstruction, it will apply negative pressure to a lung (or, really, two of them.)

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#25

Post by gwern »

Some googling (https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2011&q=dechoker&hl...) suggests there are no trials on the Dechoker yet. While that makes sense (realistic choking must be hard to induce experimentally, and any sort of experiment in the wild suffers from choking being rare), it does make me wonder how well it works.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#26

Post by TearsInTheRain »

ecaron wrote: post #19

For $150, it seems very overpriced to me. I expected this to be in the $30 range. Am I missing some profound piece of engineering that warrants this price? Or is more of a "I think I can charge $X and make s 9x profit" move (which I don't fundamental object to.)

Idk maybe the valve system to dispel air and liquids requires an expensive manufacturing process? There are also lawyer fees to recoup

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#27

Post by Johnny555 »

lazyant wrote: post #16

> the instructor told him frankly that the victim would die. He researched the subject thoroughly and found that there was absolutely no other solution to choking besides the Heimlich maneuver maybe I've seen too many movies, but what about the old knife and ball pen Tracheotomy?

Father Mulcahay certainly had no trouble performing one with no medical training, just a doctor on a radio to walk him through it. Must be pretty easy.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#28

Post by learc83 »

mikeash wrote: post #13

Simple and smart. I like it and wonder if I should buy one. Seems like cheap insurance. I wonder, does it work on people with beards? I know this usually causes trouble with sealing masks like this. Even if it doesn't, it's still a really useful device for all the non-bearded people out there, but I have to wonder.

I have a beard, and that's the first thing I thought of. I would guess that it's designed to be pretty forgiving, i.e., no needing a perfect seal.

I'm assuming the company knows the answer to this, I think I'll send them an email.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#29

Post by mikeash »

learc83 wrote: post #28
mikeash wrote: post #13

Simple and smart. I like it and wonder if I should buy one. Seems like cheap insurance. I wonder, does it work on people with beards? I know this usually causes trouble with sealing masks like this. Even if it doesn't, it's still a really useful device for all the non-bearded people out there, but I have to wonder.

I have a beard, and that's the first thing I thought of. I would guess that it's designed to be pretty forgiving, i.e., no needing a perfect seal. I'm assuming the company knows the answer to this, I think I'll send them an email.

I'm sure it would be fine with smaller beards, but I'm wondering about big fluffy ones. In any case, let us know what they have to say if they reply!
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