The Heimlich LifeSaver

The world-famous Heimlich manouevre has been the means of saving countless lives since its discovery. However, few people actually know the origins of the development of this effective and efficient procedure.

The Heimlich maneuver applies a series of actions to aid a choking person. In the case of the Heimlech, choking specifically means blockage of the human airway due to some foreign material or object. In such cases of choking, coins and other small trinkets are common objects which can probably block the airway of person. The case with coins is most probable with infants who are left unattended while playing with them. The Heimlich maneuver gives a detailed procedure regarding choking case with both adults and children. In adults, a study proved that peanuts cause most choking hazards.

The Heimlich maneuver's development is credited to Henry Heimlich. The before mentioned person, being a physician, first published the Heimlich maneuver in an informal article in the journal Emergency medicine in June 1974. He described the whole procedure along with details about the positioning of the abdominal thrusts, another name given to the Heimlich maneuver. However, he disagreed with the other name of the maneuver (abdominal thrusts) because he thought that the name may confuse the rescuer about the point of action, as the name makes the point seem to be the abdomen.

The procedure is described below with illustrated diagrams to further enhance the understanding of the reader.

The Heimlech Maneuver applied on adults,

teens, and children over 7 years of age:

The Heimlech maneuver is by applying pressure on the diaphragm of body with short, quick and powerful thrusts. It is a point below the rib cage, covered with soft internal muscles. The patient will obviously not be able to speak due to the lodged obstruction. The Universal Sign of choking should be used by the patient to indicate the problem.

Steps to be performed by the rescuer:

1. Ball your right hand into a tight fist. Bend the patient over a bit

2. Next, facing the back of the patient, move your arms around him/her and rest you fist on the diaphragm area below the sternum bone, making sure that your arms are not touching the ribs of the person.

3. Place your other hand upon the fist and hold tightly.

4. Squeeze with sufficient force to lift the person of his feet.

5. This should most probably release the obstruction and push it up though the mouth.

Note : The squeezing part should consist of quick, hard, upward thrusts.

If a person is alone, or if nobody around is familiar with the procedure, the patient can himself/herself perform the maneuver. To substitute the grip of the rescuer, the patient can put his/her hands on the diaphragm the same way, lean against a railing or the back of a chair and then exert pressure on the diaphragm to dislodge the obstruction stuck in the airway.

The Heimlich Maneuver applied on infants:-

Infants are fragile and weak, and must not be handled in the same way as the adults and teens. The Heimlich Maneuver provides special instructions to follow if an infant is choking. If it is a case of choking, the infant would be trying to breathe laboriously and slowly turning blue. In such a condition the following steps should be followed to dislodge the obstruction from the airway.

1. Lay down the baby straight, face up, on one arm. Grip his/her neck to provide support.

2. With two fingers, jab the diaphragm five times quickly and with gentle yet adequate force.

3. Next, turn over the baby and give five quick jabs with the heel of your hands.

4. Continue repeating the above two steps till the obstruction is lodged out or rescue help arrives.