Creator of lifesaving technique Henry Heimlich pens memoir
Surgeon who created lifesaving technique defends his divisive approach to medicine
The surgeon who wrote the book on saving choking victims through his namesake Heimlich manoeuvre has now penned a new book at the age of 94: his memoir.
Dr Henry Heimlich's views on how the manoeuvre should be used and on other innovations he has created or proposed have put him at odds with some in the health field. But he hopes his memoir will preserve the technique that has cleared obstructions from windpipes of choking victims around the world for four decades, and made his name a household word.
"I know the manoeuvre saves lives, and I want it to be used and remembered," the retired chest surgeon said. "I felt I had to have it down in print so the public will have the correct information."
Much of his autobiography - Heimlich's Manoeuvres: My 70 Years of Lifesaving Innovation - focuses on the manoeuvre, which involves thrusts to the abdomen that apply upward pressure on the diaphragm to create an air flow, forcing food or other objects out of the windpipe.
Heimlich says thousands of deaths reported annually from choking prompted him in 1972 to seek a solution. Over the next two years, leading a team of researchers at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, he successfully tested the technique on a dog.
"By 1974, I knew I needed to get the manoeuvre to the public as soon as possible to save lives," he said.