New LifeVac tools enhance Lee County's emergency response

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Lee County Sheriff’s Office now has access to a new anti-choking tool that could determine the difference between a life and death emergency.

The Cassata Foundation donated “LifeVac” anti-choking devices to the sheriff’s office this week, equipping deputies with a suction-based tool designed to remove airway obstructions when traditional methods, like back blows or the Heimlich maneuver, don’t work.

Sheriff Carmine Marceno called the donation a “huge win for Lee County,” saying every second matters when someone is not breathing.

“With this tool, we’re able to immediately suction the object right out of the person’s mouth,” Marceno said. “Every life saved is a real win.”

The sheriff’s office plans to strategically place the devices, primarily in patrol vehicles, so deputies can quickly access them during emergency calls. Some may also be placed in headquarters and other facilities.

LifeVac representatives say the device has helped save more than 5,000 lives nationwide, including thousands of children. The device is placed over the mouth and nose and uses a simple push-and-pull motion to create suction and remove the obstruction.

For one Cape Coral father, that simple motion made all the difference.

Raymond Priebe says he used a LifeVac to save his 3-year-old daughter, Maya, after she began choking while the family was driving home from a birthday party in October 2024.

“A parent’s worst nightmare is hearing, ‘She’s not breathing,’” Priebe said.

He immediately pulled the car over and tried back blows, but nothing worked. He says his daughter began losing consciousness and turning blue.

“My wife grabbed the LifeVac, I lay her in the grass, push, pull, done. She was crying,” he said.

Priebe believes the outcome would have been very different without the device.

“It would’ve been a different outcome. I have no doubt about that,” he said.

He now keeps multiple LifeVac devices in both cars and at home and says he encourages other parents to consider having one on hand.

Foundation leaders say their goal is to continue donating the devices to first responders, schools, and community organizations throughout Southwest Florida and beyond, hoping to prevent choking deaths before first responders even arrive.

As deputies begin carrying the devices in Lee County, leaders say they hope the added tool will give families one more layer of protection when seconds matter most.