Henry J. Heimlich, M.D. — hailed as the creator of the widely used "Heimlich Maneuver," which has saved 50,000 people in the U.S. from choking since introduced in 1974 — is on a mission to reach all Americans.
Heimlich, still full of passion at age 85, contends that his anti-choking manipulation and thrust also can save drowning victims and asthmatics. Not only that, he insists that you can do the manuever on yourself and save your own life.
The renowned physician/inventor — whose choking technique has saved Cher, Ronald Reagan, Ed Koch, Goldie Hawn and Elizabeth Taylor — appears frustrated because he believes people are unnecessarily dying of drowning, because the wrong procedure’s being used.
Heimlich laments the fact that major health organizations such as the American Red Cross haven’t embraced the effectiveness of the Heimlich Manuever for drowning victims — one that he suggests is much more useful than the widely used mouth-to-mouth CPR (CardioPulmonary Resuscitation).
"Most drowning victims die because their lungs fill with water and air can’t get in," Heimlich told physicians attending the XIII Annual International Congress on Anti-Aging Medicine, which is taking place through Sunday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago.
"But you can’t get air into their lungs until you get the water out first," he insisted. "You can do the Heimlich Manuever to get water out of their lungs."
Heimlich noted that emergency medical personnel are taught to CPR on drowning victims, which means you blow air into a drowning victim’s mouth. He asserts that 50 to 60 percent of drowning patients who’ve received CPR die.
But he cites a couple of studies, including one from 1995 to 2000 from a lifeguard assocation, which showed that the Heimlich Manuever was much more effective — 97 percent of drowning victims were saved.
"These are simple concepts to save lives," said Heimlich, who credits Dr. Victor Esch with adapting his technique for drowning patients.
But the physician’s theory doesn’t hold water with most in the emergency medicine field.
Heimlich’s idea also has a curious critic — his own son, Peter, who maintains a website, www.heimlichinstitute.com — not to be confused with the official Heimlich Institute website, www.heimlichinstitute.org). Indeed, the younger Heimlich attempts to discredit and debunk his dad’s idea that drowning victims can be helped by this technique. (He doesn’t discount its value for choking victims.)
Despite the brewing controversy, which was written about earlier this year, Heimlich the senior is full of stories of how drowning victims were saved.
Heimlich also spoke about another controversial treatment method — that of using malariotherapy as treatment for HIV.
The precedent — which has been either ignored and pooh-poohed by the mainstream medical profession — has been highly effective, Heimlich asserted, citing several effective studies.
At the anti-aging conference, Ronald Klatz, M.D., D.O., president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, also presented Heimlich with its first ever Medical Humanitarian Award, for "saving countless lives with medical innovations."