Heimlich maneuver, emergency procedure that is used to dislodge foreign bodies from the throats of choking victims. In the early 1970s, the American surgeon Henry J. Heimlich observed that food and other objects causing choking were not freed by the recommended technique of delivering sharp blows to the back. As an alternative, he devised a method of using air expelled from the victim’s lungs to propel the object up and out of the throat. The Heimlich maneuver is used only when the victim’s airway is totally obstructed and he is rendered unable to speak, breathe, or to cough the object out; with only partial blockage of the throat, the victim can generally work the object free by his own efforts.
In performing the maneuver, the rescuer stands behind the choking victim and wraps his arms around his upper abdomen, joining his two hands just below the rib cage and pressing his balled left hand into the victim’s belly. Grasping one fist in the other, the rescuer then makes four sharp upward squeezes or thrusts into the victim’s abdomen, thus forcing out of his lungs the air that will expel the foreign object from the throat. An unconscious victim is laid on his back and the thrusts administered from above. The abdominal thrusts are repeated until the foreign object is expelled.
Because the traditional Heimlich maneuver is not safe to use on infants or children under one year of age, a special infant technique has been developed. In this procedure, which is suitable only for use on conscious, choking infants, the infant is placed face down on an adult’s forearm, with the infant’s head supported and held lower than its body. Four forceful blows are delivered to the infant’s back between the shoulder blades. If the foreign object is not expelled, the infant is turned over and supported on the adult’s thigh. The adult, using only the middle and ring fingers, then gives five quick downward thrusts on the infant’s breastbone. If the object appears in the infant’s mouth, it can be safely removed. If it does not appear or cannot be removed with a gentle finger sweep through the mouth, the process is repeated.