The private maker of an anti-choking device and a Long Island-based nonprofit communicated closely with a city council member’s office last year as that lawmaker pushed to require anti-choking devices in all city schools despite recent warnings from leading medical authorities.

Anti-choking or airway clearance devices have grown in popularity in recent years, with success stories gaining traction on social media. The devices are placed over a choking victim’s nose and mouth to create suction. The suction is then used to extract an object stuck in a victim’s throat.

What You Need To Know

  • NY1 spent months looking into the City Council push to require anti-choking devices in schools

  • The investigation uncovered hundreds of pages of communications between a council member’s office, a private company and a closely aligned nonprofit

  • There’s an active debate by medical professionals over whether to endorse the products

In an interview with NY1, former Council Member Kristy Marmorato described the legislation she sponsored as being “for the safety of children in the schools of New York City.”

During a City Council hearing in June 2025, the council member noted, “This effort is deeply personal; I had lost my grandfather due to a choking incident that could not be reversed in time.”

Her bill to make airway clearance devices mandatory in every school building across the five boroughs passed in December, weeks before her term on the Council ended. But at the time, the Food and Drug Administration had not authorized airway clearance devices for choking emergencies for either adults or children.

In the months leading up to that council vote, the FDA issued warnings about the safety and marketing of the products.

Dan Weisberg, who was the city’s first deputy schools chancellor, also told council members during a June 2025 hearing, “our understanding is that the LifeVac or similar devices are at least not yet FDA approved, so we have concerns about using them until they get that approval.”

Months earlier, on Feb. 10, 2025, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services sent a letter to childcare programs throughout New York advising that in an emergency, “established rescue protocols do not include anti-choking devices.”

For a closer look at how and why the legislation still passed, NY1 made several requests under New York State’s Freedom of Information Law. NY1 uncovered hundreds of pages of emails and text messages between staffers in Marmorato’s office, a senior executive with anti-choking device company LifeVac, and the Long Island nonprofit group Equal First Aid. Equal First Aid has worked to get states across the country to mandate anti-choking devices, like the LifeVac, in schools.

Records obtained by NY1 show that in May 2025, Equal First Aid requested a meeting with Marmorato’s legislative director to discuss the bill, noting “LifeVac had also invited me to take part in the discussion.” That same month, the vice president of sales at LifeVac met with Marmorato staffers and offered to “coordinate with our LifeVac team to get supporters who will testify for the legislation.”

Over the next few weeks, LifeVac and Equal First Aid offered to provide Marmorato’s office with medical studies, LifeVac kits, school placement guidelines, and positive press about LifeVac from around the country. Marmorato told NY1 LifeVac even made a pledge to the city, “they would give one free device to every school in New York.”

Still, the company recommends that each school be stocked with several LifeVac devices. During an exclusive interview with NY1, company founder Athur Lih described his suggested LifeVac placement in schools: “one in the teacher’s office, one in the principal’s office, one in the cafeteria, one with the athletic person.”

A City Council cost estimate found Marmorato’s legislation would come with a $5.4 million price tag for taxpayers to implement, noting the city would have to purchase devices for over 2,700 schools.

Susan Lerner is the executive director of the good-government group, Common Cause New York. She reviewed the communications between LifeVac, Equal First Aid, and Marmorato’s office and noted when it comes to lawmakers drafting policy, “we want to be sure they’re getting a full picture and they’re not just being influenced by somebody who has self-interest or a profit motive to influence policy.”

“The public has an interest in knowing the information that their elected official is using to make a decision, pass laws, set public policy,” Lerner added.

Marmorato said her legislation was focused on saving lives, “there is going to be one day that some kid is going to get to go home to their parents just because they have this tool in the schools.”

Equal First Aid and LifeVac have both defended their advocacy with the City Council. In a statement to NY1, LifeVac President Laura Bonelli explained, “LifeVac is committed to ensuring the public has accurate information about its device and the most effective ways to intervene in choking incidents to save lives.”

Over three months after the Council’s approval, in March, the FDA authorized one airway clearance device, LifeVac, but only as a backup during a choking emergency if established first aid protocol like the Heimlich maneuver is unsuccessful.

The legislation requiring city schools to stock anti-choking devices has not gone into effect as it also required medical guidance on using the devices on children from either the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association. Both are still weighing the safety of anti-choking devices.

A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Education tells NY1, “Student safety is always our top priority, and New York City Public Schools is closely monitoring recent federal actions related to airway clearance devices, including LifeVac.”

For now, the first line of defense against choking in public schools will continue to be abdominal thrusts, commonly known as the Heimlich maneuver.