Amputees in Action designs and develops first ever Cricothyrotomy FX prosthetic

Amputees in Action Ltd www.amputeesinaction.co.uk, a specialist agency that supplies amputee actors for medical training and film productions has today announced that it has designed and developed a Cricothyrotomy FX prosthetic. Named 'Crike', this is the first ever Cricothyrotomy prosthetic as nothing currently exists on the international FX prosthetic market.

A cricothyrotomy known as a 'Crike' is an incision made through the skin and cricothyroid membrane to establish a patent airway during certain life-threatening situations, such as airway obstruction by a foreign body, angioedema, or massive facial trauma.

The Amputees in Action team have been working for the past 1.5 years developing Crike which is patent protected and only available through Amputees in Action's global training courses. The Crike prosthetic has been designed to be life like and bleeds when cut open enabling users to practice the cricothyrotomy procedure as if it were on a real patient. A cricothyrotomy is difficult and requires specific tools, preparation and a practiced knowledge of anatomy. There are major blood vessels and nerves in the neck and cutting there carries a high risk of harming the patient, so the more practice medics can have the better.

The Amputees in Action Crike prosthetic is currently being used in preliminary trials on the
BATLS, Battlefield Advanced Trauma Life Support courses. These courses are designed for medics and clinicians of the military to prepare them for the theater of conflict they are going to, teaching them new techniques and any advances in trauma medicine. The course is a mixture of practical and classroom lessons and is for all levels of medicine from first level medic up to surgeons.
The Crike has been produced in the UK and has been created using sculpting, moulding and casting techniques. It is made from skin safe silicone rubber, plaster and fibreglass to mimic the correct anatomical structure of a normal human throat.

John Pickup, MD of Amputees in Action commented:

"We currently have 25 Crikes in use and we are producing more to meet demand. The Crike will be of interest to the emergency services and the military. The Amputees in Action team are constantly developing the Crike and new prototypes will be built to suit different clients and remits."