Tongue Sucker Opens Airway in Emergencies

A small suction device that grabs the tongue of an unconscious person could maintain an open airway, potentially saving the person from suffocation, brain damage, and even death.

The Tongue Sucker is a small plastic chamber with a brightly colored bulb-like air reservoir, which allows untrained bystanders at the scene of an accident to open the airway of an unconscious person immediately and effectively. To operate the Tongue Sucker, the bulb is squeezed, placed over the tongue of the injured person, and then released. The ensuing suction draws the tongue off the back of the throat, creating a small but vital gap that allows the unconscious person to breathe.

The Tongue Sucker is a one-size-fits-all, non-invasive device that requires no training to apply, and therefore it can be used by bystanders, paramedics, and professional rescue teams all over the world. The need for the device arose because oropharyngeal airways, currently used specialist tools providing the same service, may only be handled by trained personal, and typical paramedic arrival time is 12 minutes. With the Tongue Sucker, responders are free to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), call for help, or assist other casualties. In addition, the brightly colored bulb signals to arriving paramedics which casualties have been treated.

The device was developed by four industrial design engineers from the Imperial College London (UK) and the Royal College of Art (London, UK), and was recently awarded one of the 2007 INDEX: (Copenhagen, Denmark) design awards of €100,000.

"The nature of the product dictates that it has to undergo a stringent and thorough series of clinical and medical testing before it can hit the market,” said Phillip Greer, from the Tongue Sucker design team. "But winning the INDEX: award will afford us the chance to go on to develop the Tongue Sucker concept and get it into every first aid box.”


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Imperial College London
Royal College of Art
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