Abstract: A manually operable device susceptible of use as a dechoker for removing an obstruction from the throat of a person, generating artificial respiration, or alleviating a heart failure by applying pressure from the lungs to the heart to compress the latter and cause some blood circulation. The device consists essentially of a face mask, a cylinder having an open end, and an end wall connected to the mask with the mask and end wall having aligned openings, a spring biased piston reciprocal in the cylinder with a rod connected thereto and a handle on the end of the rod, a frame on the cylinder presenting a crossbar spaced from the handle whereby the crossbar and handle may be grasped by the hand of an operator, a one-way check valve in the cylinder end wall, a removable detent for said valve, and a safety valve on said piston which opens when the suction effect of the piston reaches a safe limit.