Henry Heimlich, Life-Saving Maneuver Creator, Dead At 96, Family Says

The surgeon who created the life-saving Heimlich maneuver for choking victims has died, CBS News confirmed.

Dr. Henry Heimlich died early Saturday at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati at the age of 96 after complications from a heart attack, his family said in a statement.

His family called him “a hero to many people around the world for one simple reason: He helped save untold numbers of lives through the innovation of common-sense procedures and devices.”

“My father was a great man who saved many lives,” said Phil Heimlich, an attorney and former Hamilton County commissioner. “He will be missed not only by his family but by all of humanity.”

Heimlich was director of surgery at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati in 1974 when he devised the treatment for choking victims that made his name a household word.

Rescuers using the procedure abruptly squeeze a victim’s abdomen, pushing in and above the navel with the fist to create a flow of air from the lungs. That flow of air then can push objects out of the windpipe and prevent suffocation.

Much of Heimlich’s 2014 autobiography focuses on the maneuver, which involves thrusts to the abdomen that apply upward pressure on the diaphragm to create an air flow that forces food or other objects out of the windpipe.

The Cincinnati chest surgeon told The Associated Press in a February 2014 interview that thousands of deaths reported annually from choking prompted him in 1972 to seek a solution. During the next two years, he led a team of researchers at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati. He successfully tested the technique by putting a tube with a balloon at one end down an anesthetized dog’s airway until it choked. He then used the maneuver to force the dog to expel the obstruction.

The Wilmington, Delaware, native estimated the maneuver has saved the lives of thousands of choking victims in the United States alone. It earned him several awards and worldwide recognition. His name became a household word.

The maneuver was adopted by public health authorities, airlines and restaurant associations, and Heimlich appeared on shows including the “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “The Today Show.”

His views on how the maneuver should be used and on other innovations he created or proposed put him at odds with some in the health field. He said his memoir was an effort to preserve his technique.

“I know the maneuver saves lives, and I want it to be used and remembered,” he told the AP. “I felt I had to have it down in print so the public will have the correct information.”

The maneuver has continued to make headlines. Clint Eastwood was attending a golf event in Monterey, California, in 2014 when the then-83-year-old actor saw the tournament director choking on a piece of cheese and successfully performed the technique.

“The best thing about it is that it allows anyone to save a life,” Heimlich told the AP.

In 2016, Heimlich himself was the hero, saving a woman choking on food at his senior living center.

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