The Inventor Of The Heimlich Manoeuvre, Aged 96, Just Saved A Life With It
"Cool, it works!"
Dr Henry Heimlich invented the manoeuvre that shares his name in 1974. It’s designed to clear the airway of a choking victim by dislodging the obstruction with a series of “abdominal thrusts”. Heimlich had never needed to use the manoeuvre in an emergency situation until this week, when a woman who lives at the same Cincinnati retirement home began choking during dinner.
Staff stood back while Heimlich turned Patty Ris, aged 87, around in her chair and performed the manoeuvre. “I did it three times and a piece of meat with a bone in it came flying out of her mouth and she was all right,” as he told the BBC. She recovered, and has since written him a thank you note for saving her life.
As CNN points out the Heimlich manoeuvre is credited with saving the lives of over 50,000 people. Perry Gaines, the maitre d’ of the retirement home in question, told CNN he’s needed to perform it twice this year himself, but on this occasion stood back. “I stopped what I was doing and waited to see if he needed any assistance,” Gaines said. “Of course he didn’t.”