The Heimlich maneuver is a technique to avoid suffocation due to obstruction of the respiratory tract by a foreign body. It was invented by the American surgeon Henry Heimlich who introduced it to the medical community in 1974. This maneuver can save the life of adults and children due to choking from swallowing food or a foreign body such as a toy blocking the airways.
Henry Heimlich, an American thoracic surgeon after learning that hundreds of people die each year from choking on a foreign body, thought of a way to use the air trapped in the lungs and remove the object blocking the victim’s airway.
Foreign body choking in adults
Obstruction can be partial or complete. Applies to adults after food intake.
– In partial obstruction the victim has intense restlessness and cough.
-In complete obstruction the victim cannot speak, cough or
breathe.
-He quickly loses consciousness.
Actions we take to help the victim:
– The drowning victim usually puts his hands around his neck.
– If the victim is breathing encourage them to cough loudly while looking down.
-We help it lean forward and hit it with the base of the palm between the two shoulder blades with five strong blows.
-If there is still an obstruction then we apply 5 abdominal thrusts immediately below the xiphoid process. Putting one hand into a fist and pressing with the other in and up.
In pregnant women it is done in the center of the chest.
-If he loses consciousness and collapses then we apply Basic Life Support to adults (CPR).
In the following video you can see in detail First Aid for Adult Drowning (Heimlich for Adults):
Heimlich maneuver (child must be conscious)
– Stand or kneel behind the child and place your arms under the child’s armpits, in such a way that the arms surround the child’s chest.
– Place your fist, with the thumb on the child’s abdomen, just above the navel. Do not place your hand directly on the lower edge of the center of the chest bone (sternum).
– Hold your fist with your other hand.
-Lie the child on you, with his back to your body.
– Press quickly and sharply, in a backward and upward direction, five times.
