Most of us are familiar that when someone is choking, the most effective technique to help the choking victim is abdominal thrusts right above the belly button. This is a very important technique that we teach in all of our First Aid and CPR classes.

The Statistics:

5,000 yearly deaths from choking
One child dies every 5 days from choking
A leading cause of death in children
A leading cause of accident deaths in persons over the age of 65
Of all choking deaths in 2000, 41% were caused by food and 59% by non-food items

Even though the abdominal thrust (Heimlich) technique is very effective and should be used first and foremost when someone is choking, we came across an interesting supplemental product that has been proven effective in choking emergencies, especially in children – The Lifevac!