MADISON -- A top state health official is giving emergency workers the green light use a new anti-choking device. The inventor says his design was inspired by a sink plunger, but FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn shows you one big question that still remains about Lifevac.
In the field of emergency medicine, it's not often something entirely new comes along.
"It may be a terrific device," says Marc Cohen, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Emergency Medical Services Association (WEMSA). "We just don't know."
So new, state leaders in EMS response don't even know what to call it.
"I'm gonna say Airway Obstruction Removal Device," said Jerry Biggart, EMS advisory board chairman.
"Manual Portable Suction Device," said another board member.
Dr. Riccardo Colella, State EMS Medical Director, delivers a report on Lifevac to the EMS Advisory Board.
"Manual Portable Suction Apparaus For The Removal Of Foreign Body Obstruction," said State EMS Medical Director Dr. Riccardo Colella.
"I know it's a long title."
The inventor simply calls it Lifevac - an anti-choking device inspired by a sink plunger.
"I'm not lettin' these kids keep dyin'," said Arthur Lih, founder of Lifevac.
"Plumbers unclog pipes. If we stop and take a deep breath, and realize that`s what we`re dealing with, I went and found a plunger."
"To me, that's different," said Jerry Biggard, chairman of the Wisconsin EMS Advisory Board.
What inspired this room full of emergency medical experts to give the device a look is a 9-month-old boy.
"You don't ever imagine losing a child," said Courtney Bruegmann of Fennimore, Wisconsin.
In the fall of 2016, her son, Camynn Bruegmann, got got a rubber ball stuck in his throat.
"I immediately flipped him over and went like this (patting back motion). Nothing."
Fennimore Rescue Squad is the first EMS service in the Wisconsin to get approval to carry Lifevac on its ambulances.
"I did the same thing," said Matt Bruegmann, the baby's father. "Flipped him over on his back, put him on my stomach tried to get it out. Pattin' him on the back.
That wouldn't do nothing."
The local rescue squad tried, too. Without success. The nearest hospital was 15 minutes away.
"There's a lot of times we just, we run out of options," said Nathan Flynn, Chief for the Fennimore Fire Department and Rescue Squad.
"I looked at him one more time and i could see that he just wasn't there," said Courtney.
Their family of five was suddenly four.
"If i would've just had one of these, maybe he would be here.," she said.
Soon after Camynn's death, the Bruegmann's learned about Lifevac. They ordered five of the devices and donated them to the Fennimore Rescue Squad.
"The EMTs are all for it," Flynn said.
But the chief says they have to follow protocols. And changing those takes time.
"It's actually quite a long process," Flynn said.
That meant getting the approval of Dr. Riccardo Colella, state medical director for the EMS Division at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The EMS Advisory Board makes recommendations to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, but its recommendations do not required DHS to take any specific action.
"The clinical evidence of this product is low to moderate quality," Dr. Colella said. "There's not a depth of literature that supports this."
"If this is something innovative and new that isn't currently being done, we should look at it," Biggart said.
Earlier this month, Dr. Colella delivered a report on Lifevac to the state's EMS Advisory Board.
"Clinically speaking, there is no risk to worsening an airway obstruction."
But the bigger question -- can it really get a foreign object out?
"There are a couple of case reports. Again it's limited, lower quality data," Dr. Colella said.
Lifevac claims 18 people around the world have already used the device to save a life.
"This could have been the end!" said Angela Powell of Idaho Falls, Idaho, who used it on her mother-in-law when she choked on a piece of steak.
"One push, one pull. Just popped right out of her throat and into her mouth and she's like, 'I'm good, I'm good.'"
Dr. Colella stopped short of endorsing Lifevac, but did sign off on the concept.
"I think there's not a lot of harm in using this," he said. "I think it seems fair to recommend the use of a product like this."
Angela Powell says she used Lifevac to help her mother-in-law who was choking on a piece of steak.
Bcause of that, Fennimore is now the first emergency medical service in Wisconsin with Lifevac on board.
"It's extremely exciting to be part of a such a new piece," Flynn said.
"This could be really a game-changer," said Wisconsin EMS Association Executive Director Mark Cohen, whose biggest hesitation with Lifevac is a lack of real life data. However, with Dr. Colella's approval, that could soon change.
"I think you will see more services trying to use this, and then there will be data," Cohen said.
It is welcome news for the Bruegmann's.
"I was just so overjoyed," Courtney said.
A family that has found joy in short supply lately.
"We had the baby room all ready," Matt Bruegmann said.
As the two year anniversary of Camynn's death approached this fall, they were due to have another baby boy. But when Ledgynn Bruegmann was delivered, he had no heartbeat.
"It was, I guess, a day you won't forget," Matt said.
"Why us?" Courtney wondered. "Why is this happening again?"
The shell-shocked parents say it's hard to make sense of all they've lost. And well-intended support does little to ease their suffering.
"Everyone kept saying, 'Oh, he's perfect. He's perfect," Courtney said, referring to those who viewed the stillborn child after he was delivered.
"It's like, well, if he's perfect, then why isn't he here?"
The latest tragic loss is all the more reason they want to spare others the pain of losing a child the way they lost Camynn. They know there are no guarantees that Lifevac would have saved him. But...
"They go limp in your arms, you want that option," Matt said.
"Tell me you wouldn't. You'd be crazy if you didn't."
Camynn Bruegmann died in October 2016 when he choked on a rubber ball.
They know nothing will bring back their little boy.
"All in favor say aye."
"Aye."
But what he started could be something much bigger.
"He made such a big impact (in) his short life here," Courtney said.
While Fennimore Rescue Squad is now approved to use Lifevac, Fire Chief Nate Flynn says it is only a last resort to be used when other anti-choking methods -- like the Heimlich maneuver -- fail.
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