Did you know at least one child dies from choking on food every five days in the U.S., and more than 12,000 children are taken to a hospital emergency room each year for food-choking injuries?
In early 2022, our office manager, Kayla Pritchett experienced a choking emergency in her home. Her 7 year old daughter choked on food at a restaurant and was unable to dislodge it herself. Luckily, Kayla's husband Cody is a firefighter and had the training and knowledge to help his daughter by performing the Heimlich maneuver.
This experience led Kayla to approach Lisa Larkin at Gib's with a plan to offer LifeVac life saving devices to local schools. "Most people I've talked to since the incident with my daughter either don't have a plan or don't know what they will do if a chocking situation occurs. I want to change that." We've approached local schools with donations of LifeVac School kits. So far, we've had a great response and plan to roll out to all Coos County schools in the coming months.
The LifeVac is a non-powered, non-invasive, single-use only airway clearance device developed for resuscitating a victim with an airway obstruction when current choking protocols have been followed without success. Each School Kit contains four units, individually packaged, 1 Home Kit that contains a practice mask, and 3 EMS Kits. The kits are suggested to be placed in the principal’s office (Home Kit) for practice, the cafeteria, the nurse’s office, and the PE instructor’s office. The LifeVac comes with two mask sizes, adult and pediatric. It is recommended that each mask be replaced every 2-3 years or if used to save a life. The mask packaging indicates an expiration date.
Each school district in Coos County will receive 1 kit for each school in the district. Coos Bay Schools will receive 7 kits, North Bend, 5; Coquille, 5; Bandon, 3; Myrtle Point, 2; and Powers, 2.
"While we hope that these never have to be used, the reality is they are necessary. If this project can save even one life or prevent an emergency situation, I'm relieved." - Lisa Larkin, Gib's RV
"We are confident these lifesaving tools will be a safety measure that we can get behind and easily train our staff to use. Our school nurses are in strong agreement. We would be delighted to accept your generous donation for a school kit for each of our schools." Aimee Elliott, North Bend School District
