Heimlich's Drowning Rescue Claims Disputed by Many, Includ..

CONTROVERSIAL MANEUVER: Heimlich's claim that his famous procedure can
save near-drowning victims is disputed by many, including his own son

by Michael Riley, Staff Writer, Asbury Park Press, August 14, 2007

---

Dr. Henry Heimlich has saved countless lives through the procedure
that bears his name.

"It's an invaluable tool for choking victims," says Dr. Howard
Rubinstein, the Emergency Care Center director at Riverview Medical
Center in Red Bank.

"I've seen it save lives, going back to when I was an EMT," he says.

There's is no dispute that since the time Dr. Henry Heimlich described
the series of abdominal thrusts to dislodge an object from the throat
in a 1974 article in the Journal of American Medicine, people have
used the procedure to rescue those rendered helpless by an obstruction
in their trachea.

"It's simple physics," says Rubenstein. "Exerting pressure upward from
the diaphragm compresses the lungs and forces an object out."

One would think that such a simple, valuable procedure would not spark
controversy, but it has and that controversy started with Heimlich
himself, who has recommended the use of the procedure for near-
drowning victims.

That makes no sense, according to Rubenstein.

"Typically, there is very little water in a drowning victim's lungs.
The throat closes up before water gets into the lungs. Drowning
victims usually die of asphyxiation not water in the lungs, so the
Heimlich maneuver would be of no use and could actually do damage to
the body," he says.

According to Rubenstein, Heimlich also has advocated his maneuver to
help asthma victims and those with cystic fibrosis, although no
reputable medical authorities believe it will help in those cases
either.

"I respect Dr. Heimlich," says Rubenstein, "but I believe his claims
for the maneuver beyond aiding choking victims are simply
overreaching."

So does the Red Cross.

In fact, according to Leo Pratte, Director of Disaster Services for
the Jersey Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Red Cross has
not referred to abdominal thrusts as the Heimlich Maneuver for years.

"It is a legal issue," Pratte says. "We'd owe Heimlich money for
calling it that."

When it comes to aiding a choking victim, he says, the Red Cross
counsels the following course of action:

Give five back blows and if the object is not forced out, then give
five quick upward abdominal thrusts. Continue sets of back blows and
abdominal thrusts until object is forced out, the person can breathe
or cough forcefully. If the person becomes unconscious, perform CPR.
Between giving 30 compressions and two breaths look for an object and
remove it if one is seen.

Pratte points out that if a choking victim falls to the floor, he or
she should be considered unconscious, even if awake.

The issue of giving near-drowning victims abdominal thrusts is still a
matter of some controversy.

"Research continues," Pratte says. "but none of the major
organizations (that) train lifeguards, including the Boy Scouts, the
YMCA and the Red Cross recommend using abdominal thrusts. Even if the
victim has water in the lungs, there's no way of knowing how little or
how much, and time spent doing that is time not spent on CPR,
including chest compressions, which will accomplish the same thing."

Heimlich's son, Peter, has long been waging a campaign against his
father's insistence that the maneuver has uses apart from aiding
choking victims.

"The maneuver for drowning is a bizarre 30-year scam that had deadly
consequences. His only evidence was a handful of cases in which
drowning victims were allegedly saved by the maneuver. Our research
uncovered that the cases are dubious at best, fraud at worst. When
doctors have asked my father to provide details, he comes up
empty...." says Peter Heimlich. "Except for the maneuver for choking,
all of my father's theories have been thoroughly discredited as
useless and dangerous."


Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.

Why does Red Cross still teach back blows on adults when no one else does?

"schwartz" <NOSPAMschwartzNOSPAM.RemoveThis@wistex.every1.net> wrote in message
news:1187181768.146877.279470@19g2000hsx.googlegroups.com...
CONTROVERSIAL MANEUVER: Heimlich's claim that his famous procedure can
save near-drowning victims is disputed by many, including his own son

by Michael Riley, Staff Writer, Asbury Park Press, August 14, 2007

---

Dr. Henry Heimlich has saved countless lives through the procedure
that bears his name.

"It's an invaluable tool for choking victims," says Dr. Howard
Rubinstein, the Emergency Care Center director at Riverview Medical
Center in Red Bank.

"I've seen it save lives, going back to when I was an EMT," he says.

There's is no dispute that since the time Dr. Henry Heimlich described
the series of abdominal thrusts to dislodge an object from the throat
in a 1974 article in the Journal of American Medicine, people have
used the procedure to rescue those rendered helpless by an obstruction
in their trachea.

"It's simple physics," says Rubenstein. "Exerting pressure upward from
the diaphragm compresses the lungs and forces an object out."

One would think that such a simple, valuable procedure would not spark
controversy, but it has and that controversy started with Heimlich
himself, who has recommended the use of the procedure for near-
drowning victims.

That makes no sense, according to Rubenstein.

"Typically, there is very little water in a drowning victim's lungs.
The throat closes up before water gets into the lungs. Drowning
victims usually die of asphyxiation not water in the lungs, so the
Heimlich maneuver would be of no use and could actually do damage to
the body," he says.

According to Rubenstein, Heimlich also has advocated his maneuver to
help asthma victims and those with cystic fibrosis, although no
reputable medical authorities believe it will help in those cases
either.

"I respect Dr. Heimlich," says Rubenstein, "but I believe his claims
for the maneuver beyond aiding choking victims are simply
overreaching."

So does the Red Cross.

In fact, according to Leo Pratte, Director of Disaster Services for
the Jersey Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Red Cross has
not referred to abdominal thrusts as the Heimlich Maneuver for years.

"It is a legal issue," Pratte says. "We'd owe Heimlich money for
calling it that."

When it comes to aiding a choking victim, he says, the Red Cross
counsels the following course of action:

Give five back blows and if the object is not forced out, then give
five quick upward abdominal thrusts. Continue sets of back blows and
abdominal thrusts until object is forced out, the person can breathe
or cough forcefully. If the person becomes unconscious, perform CPR.
Between giving 30 compressions and two breaths look for an object and
remove it if one is seen.

Pratte points out that if a choking victim falls to the floor, he or
she should be considered unconscious, even if awake.

The issue of giving near-drowning victims abdominal thrusts is still a
matter of some controversy.

"Research continues," Pratte says. "but none of the major
organizations (that) train lifeguards, including the Boy Scouts, the
YMCA and the Red Cross recommend using abdominal thrusts. Even if the
victim has water in the lungs, there's no way of knowing how little or
how much, and time spent doing that is time not spent on CPR,
including chest compressions, which will accomplish the same thing."

Heimlich's son, Peter, has long been waging a campaign against his
father's insistence that the maneuver has uses apart from aiding
choking victims.

"The maneuver for drowning is a bizarre 30-year scam that had deadly
consequences. His only evidence was a handful of cases in which
drowning victims were allegedly saved by the maneuver. Our research
uncovered that the cases are dubious at best, fraud at worst. When
doctors have asked my father to provide details, he comes up
empty...." says Peter Heimlich. "Except for the maneuver for choking,
all of my father's theories have been thoroughly discredited as
useless and dangerous."


Copyright © 2007 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.