Choking Device Invented By LI Man, Saves Victims Of All Ages

MASSAPEQUA, NY — Choking is the fourth leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. There were 3,000 victims in 2000, according to the National Safety Council.

One Massapequa man created a tool that has saved more than 1,500 lives since it went public six years ago.

Arthur Lih, inventor and CEO of LifeVac, had the "a-ha" moment more than a decade ago while visiting a friend whose mother was having a medical procedure done.

"Last time I was here, there was a seven-year-old on that gurney [who] choked to death," the friend told Lih, whose daughter was seven years old at the time.

Lih said he took a course to learn the Heimlich Maneuver but was surprised to learn it doesn't always work. It is 70-86% effective, according to data from the American Heart Association.

With room to improve the success rate, Lih set out to build a "better mouse trap," he needed a simple design if someone was in a panic.

"There's no tube that goes in your body," he said.

Lih's misson for LifeVac was something simple that never has to be replaced and is for the whole family.

Based on the bathroom plunger model, it comes in two versions: adults and children size.

"It makes suction and pulls out what's choking you," Lih said.

Lih spent several years researching, testing and having medical peer reviews completed to show its safety and efficacy. But his background didn't make Lih and the LifeVac a slam dunk.

"I had built up a shipping, transportation and logistics company," he said.

He had a great support staff as his father was an engineer and his sister is a doctor, "but I'm a boomer. I can make things."

Since LifeVac went on the market, places like Costco have it available in every store across the U.S. for customers or employees having a choking emergency.

The Nassau County police have LifeVac in every vehicle. They are available on Amazon and their website.

"Being a hometown guy, I was very proud," Lih said. "They did very thorough research."

Unlike the Heimlich, LifeVac can be directly used by the person choking. He said people have been saved as young as three weeks and as old as 100. He proudly states that LifeVac is 100% successful to date.

"You have to remember, it's physics," he said. "The Laws of Physics are what I've relied on since I'm not a medical person. Another reason that it's always worked [is] because there's room for error."

The LifeVac headquarters in Nesconset offers a museum of sorts with a "Hall of Saves" dedicated to those who survived thanks to the device.

"When you see a picture of the kids, of the grandparents, of the spouses, and you look at their faces and know that entire wall, they'd all be gone," Lih said.