The legislation, first introduced in 2021, had previously drawn scrutiny over concerns about the efficacy of anti-choking devices. (Courtesy of the New Jersey Governor’s Office)
New Jersey lawmakers advanced legislation Monday that would require all schools in the state to purchase anti-choking devices, reviving a debate three years after a similar effort stalled.
The bill would mandate all public and private schools to have at least one portable anti-choking device in places like cafeterias and nurse’s offices (the state would reimburse schools for the cost). The legislation, first introduced in 2021, had previously drawn scrutiny over concerns about the efficacy of these devices.
A representative from LifeVac — which dominates the anti-choking device market — suggested lawmakers should look at getting the device onto school buses as well. LifeVac’s device fits over the mouth and uses suction to remove any lodged object.
“We are advocates to make sure that we prevent those tragedies from ever happening. The more people who are educated and aware of airway clearance devices, the more people who actually have them in either their schools, in their transportation vehicles — first responders are absolutely accepting of these devices,” said Heidi Felix, head of sales and marketing at LifeVac.
Felix told the committee that the device has been used to save more than 3,700 lives — 2,300 of them children — and that it’s easy to learn how to use. In New Jersey, the devices are in 130 school districts and have saved two lives, according to Felix.
Under the bill, schools must buy devices that are registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. LifeVac would be eligible for schools to purchase under the legislation.
Darrin Chambers is the co-founder of Maverick’s Legacy, a nonprofit named after his four-month-old son, who died after choking. The group donates devices like those made by LifeVac to schools and police departments, including in Sussex County, he said, and is in talks to donate more to the Morris County Sheriff’s Office.
The Senate Education Committee advanced the bill unanimously. Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth), chair of the committee, said his concerns lie with making sure schools purchase products from a “reputable” company instead of vendors selling cheaper, less effective versions. Bill sponsor Sen. Kristin Corrado (R-Passaic) said she’d amend the measure to ensure schools are buying from verified companies.
Felix pointed to studies she said show LifeVac’s success and touted an October move by the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council to include anti-choking devices as part of recommended guidelines if there is a protocol failure or when traditional methods cannot be administered, like in cases involving individuals in wheelchairs.
Gopal said he’s “not at all concerned” about LifeVac’s products.
Doctors who spoke to the New Jersey Monitor in 2022 raised concerns about anti-choking devices, with one noting that the researchers behind a 2017 study that declared LifeVac devices successful were related to or worked for the device’s inventor.
Last month and in 2023, the state’s emergency medical services office sent a memo to emergency medical technicians saying it neither endorses nor approves the use of anti-choking devices, adding in the most recent memo that the safety and effectiveness of the devices “have not been established.” A spokesperson for the Department of Health, which oversees that office, did not respond to a request for comment.
Gopal, a former emergency medical technician, referred to those memos during Monday’s hearing. Felix said they include “improper and false information” implying there is an issue with anti-choking devices.
“And there haven’t been,” she said.
The devices cost $70 each and can be used one time before the company replaces it for free, Felix said. Masks on the device have a shelf life of up to three years, she added.
The governing boards for public and non-public schools would develop policies and training requirements for using the devices.
Witnesses testified that anti-choking devices are a key substitute when traditional methods like the Heimlich maneuver and CPR don’t work.
“Having the right tool on the job is always preferable than having no option at all,” he said. “I would trade everything I own on this planet now to have one of these devices just available to try on the day of Maverick’s accident.”
No other state has a law mandating anti-choking devices in schools, Felix said, but legislatures across the country are weighing similar legislation. Lawmakers have introduced bills in New York, Massachusetts, and Georgia, and a bill to require the devices in schools is moving swiftly in the Kentucky Legislature, years after a child choked to death in a classroom.
Corrado said anti-choking devices “should be everywhere,” from assisted living facilities to ambulances.
“That’s our ultimate goal,” she said.
A companion bill in the Assembly introduced in January has not been scheduled for a hearing in the chamber’s education committee.
LifeVac in January 2023 sued the New Jersey Monitor alleging its story on anti-choking devices from one year prior amounted to defamation. A state Superior Court judge that June dismissed the complaint.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.