Abstract: A ventilating and aspirating apparatus for delivering respiratory gases to the trachea and the congested lungs and breathing passageways of a patient includes a flexible catheter tube extendable into and withdrawable from the patient's trachea. The catheter is housed within a pliable sheath extending from a manifold that is attachable to an endotracheal tube. The sheath has a slit defined by backing members formed along elongate opposed edges. A releasable, air tight "ziplock" seal is effected at the slit by a bead on one backing member and a groove to sealingly receive the bead on the other backing member. A "ziplock" actuator is structured as a slider member which travels along the bead and groove, and includes converging ends to hold the bead in the groove and a conduit member extending centrally through the slider member to interconnect an end of the catheter tube inside the sheath through a vacuum valve carried by the slider member outside the sheath to a vacuum source.