LifeVac Home Kit – Portable Suction Rescue Device, First Aid Kit for… › Customer reviews

Top positive review

Positive reviews›

5.0 out of 5 starsYou can’t put a price on peace of mind.

Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2024

If you have children then this is well worth the purchase for the peace of mind if nothing else. It’s easy to use and comes with instructions and a practice mask to help you get the feel for using it. An absolute must buy!

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

3.0 out of 5 starsBEWARE of serious issue: Mask seals deflate over time and become unusable.

Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2023

I bought a LifeVac from this Amazon product page in 2021. Two years later, I went to pack the LifeVac for family travel, only to find that it was no longer capable of working. The pediatric mask air bubble had completely deflated and could not make the essential airtight seal against a face (or even against a flat table). The adult and practice masks were about half deflated. All masks were stored in ideal conditions in an interior closet of my home.  

So please check your mask seals periodically (and replace masks as needed) or else this product may let your family down when you need it most!  I’m giving three stars because LifeVac units might work for some length of time but the design flaw in the masks is egregious. How are customers supposed to know the actual moment when the seals have become too deflated to use on a human face? It should be possible to engineer seals that are more permanent than an air-filled bubble.  I wondered whether my LifeVac was authentic since the LifeVac website warns about defective knockoffs from third party sellers. After looking into reports about knockoffs I believe I have a genuine LifeVac. Also, the Amazon seller at the time of my purchase was LifeVac LLC. 

LifeVac is not yet making enough effort to warn customers about this problem. In all documentation, LifeVac should explicitly state that the masks may fail due to deflating seals and encourage inspection at regular intervals. In some online FAQ’s, LifeVac recommends replacing the masks every 2-3 years without explaining why. My pediatric mask was fully deflated at the two year mark (Apr 2023), so it was probably compromised before 2 years.  Meanwhile, the papers that came with my LifeVac order say “Mask expiry 02/27/2024” meaning it should have lasted longer. I’ve read elsewhere on a LifeVac Q&A that “There is a label on each mask with an expiration date.” My masks read “0123” without indicating what that number means. If Jan 2023 is the intended expiration date, it contradicts what was on the paper in the same package!  And furthermore, when I complained about the deflating seal issue to a LifeVac representative on the phone (he was very helpful and knowledgeable) he said the masks may need replacement up to once a year. So overall, there have been four contradictory pieces of information about how long my mask should have lasted.  And to top it off, the current Amazon product page states near the top “NEVER EXPIRES: Device will NOT have to be replaced unless used to save the life of a choking victim.” There they mean the suction device, not the masks, but it’s obviously not clear enough.