TongueSucker Makes CPR a Whole Lot Easier for Rookie First Aiders October 09, 2007

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Designed by students at the Royal College of Art in London, Tongue Sucker is a simple gadget to help people untrained in first-aid administer CPR during emergencies, as well as solving the hygiene problem for people unwilling to get up close and personal with a stranger in order to save his or her life. The idea, which prevents an unconscious patient from blocking their airway with their tongue, is as simple as its name:

Hold the open end over the victim's tongue and pinch the red bladder to create a vacuum. The Tongue Sucker will attach itself to the patient's tongue and keep their airway unblocked. Then start chest compression-only CPR (or sexy time, if you really are that much of a loser) — a simplified version of CPR for untrained first-aiders.

The students came up with the idea following the 7/7 bombings in London, when they realized that something was needed to bridge the gap between an accident and the arrival of the emergency services. Tongue Sucker is already past the prototype stage, but its four creators are hoping to start product evaluation and clinical trials soon. -Addy Dugdale

[Tonguesucker via MedGadget]