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Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

insiderlouisville.com

91–100 of 107 posts

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is known as an attachment ambiguity. The classical sentence is "The man saw the woman with the telescope." I'm afraid it is not limited to English, and a very common phenomenon across many languages that use prepositional phrases. Languages that do avoid these usually have a complicated case system. Even there, we have other ambiguity-types that are also common in English, such as relative clauses, quantifiers,…

My favorite standard example sentence (of ambiguity, that is) is "we saw her duck".

Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#93
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite standard example sentence (of ambiguity, that is) is "we saw her duck".

Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.

Yesterday I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I'll never know.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#94
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every restaurant in NYC seems to have a defibrillator, so it could be doable.

What's the cost/benefit of those?

If you're the guy on the ground in cardiac arrest? Priceless.

Just checked Amazon - you can buy an AED for $959 minus $100 coupon. The recommended lifespan of an AED is 5-8 years, so for a smalltime operator you're looking at an amortized cost of $107-175 per year.

$10 per month is a rounding error in the operating budget of a public accomodation, and I don't see how you can possibly get upset about that. Let alone something like a ship that's multiple hours away from the closest possible medevac. A container ship likely burns more fuel than that in an hour of operation.

Won't someone please think of poor Maersk's quarterly profits? Or even worse, my Amazon crap might cost another $0.01 per tonne...

Even if you don't care that it's The Right Thing To Do, the cold truth is that if someone dies there's tons of expensive things that happen. If an employee dies there's insurance or comp to pay, there's the cost of hiring a replacement and so on, etc. And on a social level we lose their economic output and its effect on the aggregate economy.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#95

Please note the small text on this page that says: "There is no guarantee this device will remove debris from the airway." http://www.dechoker.com/pages/dechoker-usage-instructions It is a 510K-exempt Class I medical device, according to the FDA. So its manufacturer has registered with the FDA but there is no FDA approval of its claim of being able to dislodge objects from a patient's airway. Nor is any data provided…

There is no guarantee this device will remove debris from the airway.

That's somewhat of a "duh!" but I guess it's there just for legal reasons.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#96
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…

The instruction diagram is great:

https://lifevac.net/wp-content/uploads/easy-as-place-push-pu...

...just like unclogging a toilet with a plunger!

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#98
post #87
post #73

> He researched the subject thoroughly and found that there was absolutely no other solution to choking besides the Heimlich maneuver. So he spent the past five years developing new technology to solve this problem. Strange, I did my last first aid course about 5 years ago, and remember a few methods other than the Heimlich. The Heimlich has this weird PR where it seems that it's the only method that the US knows abo…

What is your source for #2? The NHS (i.e., not the US) doesn't mention that technique. http://www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/2301.aspx?categoryid=72

St John's Ambulance does first aid training here in Melbourne. They're basically a volunteer group who work alongside the professional paramedics; St John's generally does events like concerts and festivals, while the professionals do the usual emergency stuff. St John's also do a lot of first aid training here (the above examples come from a course of theirs).

The side chest compressions tend not to break ribs - normal CPR compressions do, but CPR needs to squish the heart - a smaller, tougher organ than the lungs. The heimlich also has to be done in an upright position, which makes it more awkward to do if you're not physically strong; it's all bicep strength, and you can't use your own weight to your advantage. Chest thrusts are also not complicated by a patient who is obese or pregnant.

Just googling around, found some research arguing for (normal) chest compressions over heimlich, from 2000: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10767497

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#99

My wife is Japanese, and she said that in Japan lots of old people choke on mochi (a sticky sweet made from rice). From what she says, when this happens - the best thing to use is a vacuum cleaner. I also remember a scene from Tampopo[0] where this takes place. Sounds pretty scary and odd, but probably not an entire myth[1,2] I wonder how effective this is, and what are the risks to the lungs after whatever's stuck g…

The scene in question from Tampopo:

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83KgeYls7iM

To the later reply, well, in the movie they actually use a normal household vacuum.

Re: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking

#100

My wife is Japanese, and she said that in Japan lots of old people choke on mochi (a sticky sweet made from rice). From what she says, when this happens - the best thing to use is a vacuum cleaner. I also remember a scene from Tampopo[0] where this takes place. Sounds pretty scary and odd, but probably not an entire myth[1,2] I wonder how effective this is, and what are the risks to the lungs after whatever's stuck g…

Nice, I've never heard of this "dechoking" method. I'm guessing you need one of these types of vacuums: http://www.tipa.eu/fotocache/bigorig/08850298.jpg and then you put your mouth around it?

I guess it won't exactly work with a "standing" vacuum cleaner(like [0]), but in recent years, most vacuum cleaners I see -- like the one you linked to -- have a long hose, and you can definitely fit it in someone's mouth. (you remove the big attachment at the end)

On the cost side, you can probably get a nice vacuum cleaner for $150 :)

I'm still wondering about how effective vs. how risky this technique might be though

[0] http://www.amazon.com/Rowenta-Lightweight-Cordless-Cyclonic-...

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