Heimlich maneuver

Year

1974

By

Henry J. Heimlich

Place

Cincinnati, Hamilton County ZIP 45220 · Cincinnati · Hamilton County

Choking is a quick killer, and in the early 1970s rescuers were told to slap the back, which can push an object deeper. Henry Heimlich, a thoracic surgeon, proposed a different approach: a sharp upward thrust on the abdomen that forces air from the lungs and pushes the object out.

He published it in June 1974 in Emergency Medicine, in an article titled Pop Goes the Cafe Coronary. Heimlich was born February 3, 1920 in Wilmington, Delaware, served as a Navy thoracic surgeon in World War II, and died in Cincinnati on December 17, 2016.

Medical groups have changed their advice more than once. Between 1976 and 2006 the guidelines at times put back blows first before abdominal thrusts, then reversed in 2005.

There is controversy. Heimlich's son Peter disputes his father's claims about the maneuver's first use, and Heimlich's later advocacy of malaria therapy for HIV was rejected by the FDA and CDC as unsound and dangerous. He also patented a chest drain valve in 1969 and received the Lasker Award in 1984.

• 1969: Heimlich patents the chest drain valve. source
• 1974-06: The abdominal thrust technique is published. source
• 1984: Heimlich receives the Lasker Award. source
• 1985: He is inducted into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame. source
• 2005: Medical guidelines reverse course on back blows versus abdominal thrusts. source
• 2016-12-17: Heimlich dies in Cincinnati. (Cincinnati, OH) source

• Abdominal thrusts remain a standard choking response.
• Guidelines on back blows versus thrusts changed several times from 1976 to 2006.

Saves choking victims.

• Wikipedia: Henry Heimlich

• Wikipedia: Henry Heimlich