Learn the Heimlich Maneuver
September 1, 2009 by Mary Jo Manzanares
Filed under Announcements, Products & Resources, Travel Tips
You’re in a restaurant and see someone choking on a burger, do you know what to do? You see a child choking on a piece of candy, do you know what to do? You’re at the beach and see someone on the chaise lounge next to you gasping for breath and looking like they can’t breathe, do you know what to do?
It’s easy to forget that being on vacation doesn’t always mean escaping from the practical side of life.
And so today’s post is sort of a public service announcement. A reminder of something that is important to know whether you are traveling or at home. I urge everyone to take a bit of time and pick up some basic first aid knowledge, and especially to learn how to perform the Heimlich maneuver.
A choking victim cannot breathe, and needs you helps immediately. If they can talk, they aren’t choking. While the situation may progress to something more serious, if a person is able to talk and communicate with you, leave things alone. A person who is choking will likely be grasping their throat and trying to get air, rather than talking.
If you an individual that is choking, DO NOT slap them on the back, as this could worsen the situation. Instead, begin the Heimlich Maneuver and ask someone to call for additional help.
To perform the Heimlich Maneuver on an adult:
- Approach the victim from behind, and wrap your arms around their waist.
- Make and fist, place the thumb side of your first against the victim’s upper abdomen. You should position the fist below the ribcage and above the navel.
- Grasp this fist with your other hand, pressing into the victim’s upper abdomen with a quick upward thrust. (Do not squeeze the ribcage.)
- Repeat until the object causing the choking is expelled.
- Make sure that the victim seeks medical assistance right away.
Additional consideration and procedures exist for assisting an unconscious person and a child.
Basic first air training is offered by many fire and police departments, community centers, and through many work places.
Photo credit: SXC
“If you an individual that is choking, DO NOT slap them on the back, as this could worsen the situation.”
Oh really? Then why does the American Red Cross recommend backslaps as the first response for choking rescue? http://www.redcross.org/flash/brr/English-html/conscious-choking.asp
It is a difference in opinion on what is effective, and politics surrounding the Heimlich maneuver.
The Heimlich maneuver is an accepted approach for rending first aid in a choking situation. That procedure recommends that back blows not be given in adults. That position is consistent with my first aid training (although admittedly, it’s been 10 months since my last first aid training).
The Heimlich, despite its effectiveness, has become controversial for reasons that transcend first aid. The Red Cross has evidently chosen not to recognize the Heimlich maneuver. Their choking instructions offer a variation of the Heimlich maneuver, but they do not credit or refer to it as such.
I did a quick check with my friends in various medical professions, and they are unwilling to come down on one side or the other. I will have a first aid refresher in a couple months, and will be happy to report back on what, if anything, has changed.
You don’t know what you’re talking about and who cares what your friends say?
Both the American Red Cross (ARC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) recommend back blows as effective; chest thrusts, too. See the most recent ILCOR guidelines on which both the AHA and ARC base their recommendations: http://www.shrunkin.com/23431/
“Treatment Recommendation
Chest thrusts, back blows/slaps, or abdominal thrusts are effective for relieving FBAO in conscious adults and children >1 year of age, although injuries have been reported with the abdominal thrust. There is insufficient evidence to determine which should be used first.”
In future, first read. Then think. Then write.
First of all, it’s clear that I’ve struck a nerve with you on this issue. When I read “who cares what your friends say” and personal attacks, I can read a lot of anger and emotion in your words. That was never my intent in writing this post, and I’m sorry that I’ve stirred things up for you.
I do, however, want to point out that the friends I contacted are doctors and nurses. After you’re comment, I contacted them once again to see if I’ve missed something that they explained to me. I got a big lesson on the politics of medical treatment and care, along with a big lesson on the Heimlich Maneuver (which advocates NO back blows) and various other protocols. Initially all the other associations were on board with no back blows as well. It was only a couple years ago that those associations reverted back to recommending back blows, after controversy surrounding the original Heimlich came into discussion.
The Heimlich (with no back blows) is still being used, as is the protocol with back blows. Ultimately, according to the medical professionals that I talked with, the critical piece of information to convey is not to get caught up in the polarizing and hostile discussion of Heimlich, but to learn how to render first aid and to be prepared to act. Taking action, rather than having a heated debate, is what saves lives.
This is not a heated debate, it’s about you providing inaccurate information about backblows. If you’d researched the subject via easily-available source documents rather than basing your conclusions on informal conversations with unidentified friends, you would have gotten it right.
In any case, if you and your friends wish to learn more about the history, here’s a December 2007 report from your Seattle NPR affiliate about a regional connection: http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=13931