LifeVac Saves Three-Year-Old in IKEA Retail Store

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Nov 29, 2018, 08:37 ET

NESCONSET, N.Y., Nov. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeVac is pleased to report its seventeenth confirmed life saved. On 8/23/2018 a three-year-old child with Down's syndrome began choking while in the Exit Café, a food-serving department within the IKEA store at Athens International Airport in Athens, Greece.

"Our security staff is highly efficient in dealing with all kinds of emergencies," said Kostas Psaraftis, Group Safety and Security Manager of Fourlis Holdings, the exclusive franchisee of IKEA in Greece. "Our staff concluded within seconds that something was blocking the child's airway. They attempted to dislodge the object with 5 back blows and 5 abdominal thrusts, Heimlich. This failed and the child lost consciousness," Psaraftis continued. "Two of our security staff then took the LifeVac from its wall mounted position and placed it over the child's mouth. With the first pull of the LifeVac the child started breathing and coughing and the security team was able to remove the poorly chewed food from the child's mouth. The LifeVac is truly a 'medical device miracle.' A life has been saved! Thank you!" Psaraftis concluded.

"We are always very happy to hear about a LifeVac save," said Arthur Lih, Founder and CEO of LifeVac. "I would like to personally thank EMD LTD, the sole and exclusive distributor of LifeVac in Greece. Without their passion, dedication and belief in LifeVac, this small child would have died," Lih continued. "We applaud the IKEA team for taking the appropriate precautionary measures to keep their customers safe. We hope other large organizations will follow their lead."

About LifeVac - LifeVac is a non-powered, non-invasive, single patient airway clearance device developed for resuscitating a victim with an airway obstruction. Save a life. www.lifevac.net

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SOURCE LifeVac LLC