[Part 1 appeared last Saturday at this time; several readers asked for more. As always, your wish is my demand.]
I've had a LifeStat Emergency Airway (above and below)
in my car's glove box ever since I first learned of its existence around the turn of the century.
It was invented by ENT and otolaryngologist Dr. Ronald J. French and patented in 1996 and approved by the FDA for emergency cricothyoidotomy in 1997.
I've never had occasion to use mine.
The other day I was cleaning out the glove box, replacing leaking and expired batteries for my flashlight, radio, etc. — stop reading this and do that NOW — and I happened on the LifeStat device.
I got this strange feeling that things could happen in the near future such that it might come in useful so I attached it to my keychain instead of putting it back in the glove box.
Long story short: it's an ingenious device that supersedes the need to perform an emergency cricothyroidotomy in the event of a supralaryngeal breathing obstruction.
Most emergency cricothyroidotomies performed by novices in field conditions fail, overwhelmingly because locating the far from obvious landmarks (below)
guiding proper placement while panicking is nearly impossible.
Note: flashing red vertical bar in the graphic above indicates proper cricothyroidotomy/LifeStat insertion site.
With the LifeStat, even a nonphysician has a chance of success, and most doctors — even nonsurgeons — will do better.
From the LifeStat website:
"CAUTION: Federal law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician or other practitioner licensed by the laws of the state in which he practices."
If you buy one and use it and someone questions you for doing so because you're not "medical personnel," refer them to me: I'll handle it.
Free, the way you like it.
My Crack Legal Team©®™ is ready 24/7/365.
Ask your doctor* to place an order for you: $130.
*Not me: I retired in 2015.
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