Ventlab airflow resuscitators recalled

• Tweet

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The Ventlab Corp. initiated a U.S. recall of 14,602 of its manual resuscitators because they potentially delivered little to no air or oxygen, the firm says.

"The manual resuscitators have been found to potentially deliver little to no air/oxygen through the patient valve to the patient, which could result in life-threatening health consequences that include hypoxia and hypoventilation," Ventlab officials said in a statement. "End users who have manual resuscitators at the lot numbers listed below should stop using them and immediately contact Ventlab Corp. for further instructions on the return of these products."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration listed the recalled manual resuscitators at: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm324561.htm?source=govdelivery.

The recalled manual resuscitators were manufactured and distributed nationwide to hospitals, clinics and emergency medical units from March to July.

Resuscitators are designed to provide effective breathing assistance in acute situations and are used routinely in hospitals during patient transfer between departments or as a backup to ventilators and anesthesia machines.

Manual resuscitation is a form of artificial respiration that uses a breathing bag to assist patients whose lungs are not functioning properly. The breathing bag is filled with oxygen and is squeezed by hand by a doctor, nurse or respiratory therapist.