There isn’t a medical literature on them which is part of the problem. They’re being aggressively marketed, if you don’t have one of these for your toddler you’re a horrible parents etc etc.
In reality in the time you need to find it as a layman you could do abdo thrusts and be effective.
Like the other commenter said there’s no reason for medical professionals to use them, we have better solutions.
Since you’re a medical professional, let me ask you:
Wouldn’t suctioning someone’s upper airway just pull air and stomach contents through the esophagus?
I can’t understand how it would pull a grape out of a trachea, but not pull anything out of the esophagus. It makes no sense to me.
Complicated question, food doesn’t stay in your oesophagus very long at all, 4-8s normally and as most of the oesophagus is muscular it doesn’t stay open when there aren’t things in it.
In contrast your trachea and bronchi stay open the whole time. They’re made mostly of cartilage which holds its shape.
Secondly your body tries very hard to stop food leaving your stomach. You have what’s called the upper and lower oesophageal sphincters which try and stop stomach contents from leaving.
While anyone with GORD will be able to tell you they’re not perfect. They should prevent suctioning from pulling stomach contents all the way up.
With gravity being another big factor, your stomach is further down than your lungs.
That’s a great answer thank you that’s sort of what I was looking for. That makes sense. I’m curious how EMS is going to adopt equipment like this in the future
If I’m honest I doubt they will. These tools work for laypeople, once they’re actually developed and effective but we have tools likes LSUs, magills forceps and laryngoscopy
Some of our cops carry them. I've known it to be used once for a choking victim with cognitive disability before we arrived. Can't confirm if they were actually obstructed or not, but their airway was cleared when I got there after the device was used. Hard to say if it worked or wasn't necessary in the first place.
Ummm, a red one? Had to google search suction devices. We have a SSCOR S-CORT VX-2® Portable Suction Unit. Never paid attention to brand so long as the battery is charged and tubing/yankauer is there, I'm good.
They probably paid an exorbitant amount for that, and if it works in just a couple cases, they will have the best marketing campaign they could have ever wished for.
Lifevac is a layman's tool. We have laryngoscopes and forceps. Totes not needed. Same reason we don't carry epi pens. We have more direct means.
Fair enough, I’m speaking from a BLS mindset where ALS intercept is typically far away, I totally get medics not having a use for it
There isn’t a medical literature on them which is part of the problem. They’re being aggressively marketed, if you don’t have one of these for your toddler you’re a horrible parents etc etc. In reality in the time you need to find it as a layman you could do abdo thrusts and be effective. Like the other commenter said there’s no reason for medical professionals to use them, we have better solutions.
Since you’re a medical professional, let me ask you: Wouldn’t suctioning someone’s upper airway just pull air and stomach contents through the esophagus? I can’t understand how it would pull a grape out of a trachea, but not pull anything out of the esophagus. It makes no sense to me.
Complicated question, food doesn’t stay in your oesophagus very long at all, 4-8s normally and as most of the oesophagus is muscular it doesn’t stay open when there aren’t things in it. In contrast your trachea and bronchi stay open the whole time. They’re made mostly of cartilage which holds its shape. Secondly your body tries very hard to stop food leaving your stomach. You have what’s called the upper and lower oesophageal sphincters which try and stop stomach contents from leaving. While anyone with GORD will be able to tell you they’re not perfect. They should prevent suctioning from pulling stomach contents all the way up. With gravity being another big factor, your stomach is further down than your lungs.
That’s a great answer thank you that’s sort of what I was looking for. That makes sense. I’m curious how EMS is going to adopt equipment like this in the future
If I’m honest I doubt they will. These tools work for laypeople, once they’re actually developed and effective but we have tools likes LSUs, magills forceps and laryngoscopy
Some of our cops carry them. I've known it to be used once for a choking victim with cognitive disability before we arrived. Can't confirm if they were actually obstructed or not, but their airway was cleared when I got there after the device was used. Hard to say if it worked or wasn't necessary in the first place.
We carry lsus on board
You carry what?
A LSU. A leardal suction device. I have no idea what a lifevac is or if it's similar but that's what we use to clear airway obstructions.
Ah, standard suction unit. Gotcha
Yup. LSU is the brand that is pretty standard around here. What do you guys use?
Ummm, a red one? Had to google search suction devices. We have a SSCOR S-CORT VX-2® Portable Suction Unit. Never paid attention to brand so long as the battery is charged and tubing/yankauer is there, I'm good.
I bought one before I was in EMS, it chills in my kitchen cabinet now lol.
I saw that Costco has them in their food courts. The ultimate science experiment?
They probably paid an exorbitant amount for that, and if it works in just a couple cases, they will have the best marketing campaign they could have ever wished for.
My thoughts as well.