{"id":11603,"date":"2023-10-06T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.protrainings.com\/blog\/?p=11603"},"modified":"2025-01-09T17:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T22:12:00","slug":"what-is-heimlich-maneuver-how-perform-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.protrainings.com\/blog\/what-is-heimlich-maneuver-how-perform-it\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is the Heimlich Maneuver & How Do You Perform It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Comprehensive Guide to Handling Any Choking Emergency<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. The Invention & Naming of the Heimlich Maneuver<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. How to Identify Choking<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. How to Do the Heimlich Maneuver for Adults, Children & Infants<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Special Cases: How to Do the Heimlich Maneuver on Individuals Who Are Pregnant, Obese, or in a Wheelchair<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. How to Do the Heimlich Maneuver on a Pet<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. How to Do the Heimlich on Myself in 3 Steps<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. How to Care for Someone After a Choking Incident<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. How to Prevent Choking<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Knowing the Heimlich Maneuver Can Save a Life!<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Heimlich Maneuver FAQs<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    On an average Monday in May 2016, a woman in a senior living community<\/a> began to choke on the food she was eating. According to her rescuer, the woman\u2019s lips began to become puffy and she was clearly unable to breathe. She needed immediate help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Luckily for her, the man next to her, Dr. Henry Heimlich, was able to rescue her by performing the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food causing her to choke. Yes, it was that<\/em> Dr. Heimlich \u2014 the very one who invented the technique used to save her life. But what exactly is this technique he pioneered? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Heimlich maneuver is a popular and internationally known technique used to help someone who is choking<\/a>, including how to do CPR on someone who is choking and has become unconscious. This technique uses the pressure of remaining air left in the lungs to help force an object out of the airway through the application of quick, forceful upward thrusts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Invention & Naming of the Heimlich Maneuver<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Dr. Henry Heimlich was a thoracic surgeon who spent much of his career observing the pressing issues he faced in his day-to-day experience and setting about finding solutions for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fun Fact: The invention of the Heimlich Maneuver was inspired by rescuing dogs from choking.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    In the 1960s, according to a journal published<\/a> in the National Library of Medicine, the sixth most common cause of accidental death was choking on food, toys, and other various objects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In his search for a solution, Dr. Heimlich observed that canines with an obstruction in their airway were able to be saved with a rapid thrust to the abdominal cavity that helped propel the foreign object out of the body. This allowed normal respiration to resume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Subdiaphragmatic Pressure<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    It was this realization that led to the original 1974 naming of the abdominal thrust technique: \u201csubdiaphragmatic pressure.\u201d While the technique and importance of this skill were no less valuable at the time, Dr. Heimlich shared with NPR<\/a> in an interview before his death that he believed the technique wouldn\u2019t have caught on as well without a new name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In his interview with NPR, Dr. Heimlich explained that when formally reviewing the procedure, the American Medical Association shared with him that so many lives had been saved by the procedure in less than two months that they wanted to name the procedure after him. It was at this time the name was officially changed to the Heimlich maneuver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Identify Choking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    According to the National Safety Council<\/a>, approximately 3,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2020 were due to choking. This is a small fraction of the tens of thousands of people who require first aid<\/a> for some degree of choking each year but are successful in restoring normal respiration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Common causes of choking include food particles, especially large or tough pieces, and small objects that children may put in their mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The concept of choking typically conjures images of a person gasping for air. While a person may experience trouble breathing due to an obstruction in their airway, this example is often mischaracterized as choking, which requires the Heimlich maneuver. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To prevent long-term or fatal outcomes, <\/strong>
    <\/strong>it\u2019s important to act quickly.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Key signs of choking include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n