Act+Fast Anti Choking Trainer

The Act+Fast Anti Choking Trainer, also known as the “Choking Rescue Training Vest”, is a simulation device manufactured by Act+Fast LLC, a company based in California. It helps practice choking rescue techniques and is mainly used in basic airway management to teach choking rescue protocols, abdominal thrusts (Heimlich maneuver) and the back slap method. The Anti Choking Trainer was exhibited at the 2008 EMS Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Origin
In 2008, Timothy Adams, an anesthesiologist, volunteered to help train Boy Scouts working on their first aid merit badges. During the training, Dr. Adams had limited ways of demonstrating the Heimlich maneuver, so he created a hands-on teaching device out of operating room supplies. As a result of this experience, the Act+Fast Anti Choking Trainer was created. It was then implemented in CPR classes, hospitals, and schools.

Operation


The Anti Choking Trainer is worn as a vest to simulate relief of an obstruction. The vest is slipped over the user’s head and secured with a buckle on each side. In front of the vest, is a neoprene pocket with a plastic air bladder that rests in the area between the user’s navel and rib cage. At the top of the bladder is a rigid airway with an opening that points upward and away from the user’s face. A foam plug is placed in the airway to simulate an foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO). When the proper technique is performed, the foam plug is launched into the air, providing immediate feedback. The Anti Choking Trainer also includes a foam back pad for backslaps, as recommended by the UK Resuscitation Council. The Anti Choking Trainer allows users to practice the choking rescue protocols of the European Resuscitation Council, National Safety Council and International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements around the world.

Reception and recognition
Sold through distributors worldwide, the Anti Choking Trainer is used by schools, fire departments, rescue groups and in CPR training classes.

In 2009 the Anti Choking trainer was named by the Journal of Emergency Medicine as one of 30 of the most innovative products at the 27th annual EMS Today.