A true entrepreneur does not blindly follow a trail rather creates one. Be it IT or healthcare, every industry has witnessed remarkable personalities and pioneers who have contributed to the betterment of the world. One might have heard many names in the IT industry, but here is one avid business-prenuer who has transformed the healthcare sector. He has consistently used his creativity and business skills to build a new future.
Meet Arthur Lih, the Founder, Inventor, and CEO of LifeVac. In the early stages of his journey, while at Stony Brook University in New York, Arthur worked part-time as a truck driver and operations manager in the air transportation industry. He worked hard and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from SUNY Stony Brook. After graduation, he got a full-time job in the industry, working in almost every aspect of the trucking and air freight industries. Arthur and a partner went on to form their own logistics company, ALBS Logistics. They built the company from the ground up, achieving revenue of over 20 million dollars annually. In 2012, they were acquired by Radiant Global Logistics. Arthur planned to retire after the acquisition to pursue his woodworking and building skills and expand his creation of boats and tree houses. However, he came across a tragedy and turned it into an invention that saves lives.
The idea emerged after hearing a tragic story, which later became the vision of the LifeVac. In 2011, Arthur Lih was visiting a friend in the hospital when he overheard the tragic story of a 7-year-old boy who had recently died after choking on a grape. At this moment, even the Heimlich Maneuver failed to save the boy’s life. Hence, Arthur decided to invent an apparatus that could clear an airway. He used his inquisitive mind, business, and building skills to find a solution to end choking tragedies. His decision to help his family and others is how LifeVac was born. The company is producing the upper airway clearing device in order to provide the safest, simplest method to save an aspirating person. “Our goal is to save as many lives as possible throughout the world,” he says.
Arthur’s previous career in shipping helped with logistics so they could ship products around the world. He built LifeVac into an international medical device company, that is dedicated to saving lives around the world. A small group of determined people can change the world. “Our LifeVac staff wants to stop senseless choking deaths,” says Arthur. He also claims that LifeVac has received widespread media attention and has saved lives all over the world, from 3 weeks to 97 years old. Arthur received a patent for the LifeVac device, a portable, non-invasive airway clearance device used to rescue a choking victim.
Moreover, Arthur will be inducted into the Massapequa Hall of Fame for his extraordinary achievements in entrepreneurship. He is a member of the Massapequa Elks Club and Long Island Speakers Bureau, has been a guest speaker for the Massapequa/Farmingdale Men’s Club, Copiague Chamber of Commerce, and Nassau County Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club, and supports numerous charity foundations. He continues to advocate for the prevention of choking tragedies by educating the community at workshops and frequently conducting radio and television interviews.
Saving Lives with a LifeVac Kit
The most intriguing factor of the LifeVac kit is that it never expires. A free replacement is also offered by LifeVac for every kit sold when used in a choking emergency. The LifeVac is a non-powered, non-invasive, single-use airway clearance device developed for resuscitating a victim with an airway obstruction when current choking protocols have been followed without success. It has a one-way valve that does not allow any air to enter a choking victim in a downward motion. It comes fully equipped with an adult mask, a pediatric mask, practiced mask, and instructions for use literature in a clear travel bag. The duration of the suction is minimal, which makes LifeVac safe and effective. “LifeVac is easy to use in an obstructed airway emergency,” Arthur mentions. “It can be used on people weighing as little as 22 pounds when using the pediatric mask.” It is widely available and can be purchased online at LifeVac.net.
Arthur shares some of the moments when lives were saved because of his invention. He claims that Killian is a one-year-old boy who was the first child he met who had been saved by LifeVac.The feeling was beyond words when he held Killian in his arms. His heart was filled with gratitude to know he was alive. The other moment occurred a few years ago, when he was standing in his kitchen at home and received a text message from the LifeVac office in the United Kingdom. The text read, ‘LifeVac saved its first life!” Arthur learned the details about the elderly man who was saved by LifeVac in a nursing home located in the United Kingdom. “I created LifeVac because of my daughter, Jackie. I found out that the first person to use LifeVac to save a life was a nurse named Jackie. That was a God Wink,” says Arthur. “I was confident that LifeVac was doing God’s work and we were destined to save more lives. That was truly one of the most powerful moments in my entire career.”
Setting goals
Arthur states that when an individual becomes a parent, they learn what true love is. “Your heart is consumed with love for your child,” he says. After the incident that occurred in the hospital (the death of a boy due to choking on a grape), Arthur could not imagine watching his daughter die in his arms. During a choking emergency, it only takes 4 to 8 minutes for a child’s brain to die. His love for his child made him invent LifeVac. He believes that it is his responsibility as a father to protect his family, but he could not find a device to save children’s lives during choking emergencies. Thus, out of love, he invented this miraculous product. When he finally created a working device, he felt obligated to share LifeVac with parents and caregivers around the globe.
Arthur says his goal is to save ‘one million lives’ before he dies. “That is my goal…and that is my only goal! We believe it is possible. Over 160,000 people choke to death around the world each year. We can achieve this goal! I will go out kicking and screaming to fulfill our mission!” gleams Arthur.
