Henry J. Heimlich - Heimlichs Maneuvers: My Seventy Years of Lifesaving Innovation

Published 2014 by Prometheus Books

Heimlichs Maneuvers: My Seventy Years of Lifesaving Innovation. Copyright 2014 by Henry J. Heimlich, MD. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Prometheus Books recognizes the following trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned within the text: Barbasol; Chevrolet; Emmy Award; Ford; Model T; Novocain; Rockettes; Smith Corona.

HEIMLICH MANEUVER is a registered trademark of the Heimlich Institute, Inc.

Every attempt has been made to trace accurate ownership of copyrighted material in this book. Errors and omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions, provided that notification is sent to the publisher.

Cover image John Johnston, www.johnjohnston.com
Cover design by Liz Scinta
Unless otherwise noted, all images are from the authors personal collection.

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Heimlich, Henry J., author.

Heimlichs maneuvers : my seventy years of lifesaving innovation / by Henry J. Heimlich.

p. ; cm.

ISBN 978-1-61614-849-2 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-61614-850-8 (ebook)

I. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Heimlich, Henry J. 2. PhysiciansAutobiography. 3. Heimlich Maneuverhistory. WZ 100]

RD27.35.H44

617.092--dc23

[B]

2013036223

Printed in the United States of America

To my late wife, Jane, and my sister, Cecilia Rosenthal

What can you say about a man who is innovative, talented, and caring? I would say he sounds like my doctor, Dr. Henry J. Heimlich.

In 1965, I was born with a condition called tracheoesophageal fistula, a rare birth defect that interfered with my ability to swallow and breathe normally. My condition caused serious problems. I aspirated my saliva, which could have led to pneumonia or death. I would not have been able to eat without regurgitating my food.

There was only one man who had a vision to help me: Dr. Henry J. Heimlich. I do believe God was watching over me when this man came into my life. He came up with a surgical procedure that saved my life as well as many other infants in years to come. I have the honor of having been the youngest child to have this surgery. I underwent a total of thirteen operations and was trached for the first five years of my life.

After that, I had a normal childhood and experienced relatively few problems. I played baseball and football in high school. At the age of eighteen, I began a career in emergency medical services, and at the age of twenty-two, I was certified as a paramedic. I have teaching credentials with the American Heart Association in advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support, and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).

At the age of forty-eight, I am still a paramedic and an emergency medical services instructor. It is because of Dr. Heimlichs dedication to helping others that I went in the medical profession. Whenever I teach the Heimlich Maneuver to my students, I tell them about the man who saved my life.

Today, I live a full life. I am happily married with five children. Ever since I was released from the hospital after undergoing Dr. Heimlichs procedure at the age of nine months, I have stayed in touch with him. I call him from time to time to let him know how I am doing, and he always responds warmly. I cannot tell you how much I love this man.

Dr. Heimlich, I will always be grateful for your gift of life.

Your patient and friend,

Guy Carpico

There are two subjects concerning medical ethics that I would like to clarify with readers.

First, in experimenting with medical innovation, sometimes a doctor must try out an idea on patients to see if what has shown to work in a laboratory environment also works in everyday life. There have been some individuals who were the first to be treated with my proceduresprocedures that had not been widely adopted yet. Every patient who has ever been involved with my research or who has undergone an experimental surgical procedure under my care had full knowledge of any risk involved and granted permission to participate.

Second, some of the experiments I conducted many years ago involved dogs. At that time, the issue of animal rights had not been fully recognized by the medical community yet. Part of the reason was that we did not have access to computer technology and modeling that today provide answers to medical questions and, therefore, eliminate the need for animal testing. I want to make clear that I strongly believe in protecting the health and safety of animals, not just in medical research but in all areas of life. If I were to conduct a medical experiment today, I would look only to solutions that do not involve animal research.

Sincerely,

Henry J. Heimlich, MD

I wish to thank numerous people who have helped make this book possible.

I appreciate the staffs from the Henry J. Heimlich Archival Collection, the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, the University of Cincinnati Libraries, and the Cincinnati Public Library Information and Reference and History Departments for the expertise and proficiency exhibited researching many facets of the book.

I thank Vicki Roberts, my very capable administrative assistant, with whom I completed the first manuscript. My thanks also go to the talented writer Andrea Sattinger for her contributions.

I wish to thank Ricardo O. Ang II for his artistic skill as the photographer of my author photo and Lori Elizabeth Donnelly for her help researching and providing citations.

I wish to express my gratitude to my publicist, Melinda Zemper, who has supported me in so many ways with her intelligence and encouragement.

Dear thanks go to Karen Carmichael and Terri Lusane for helping me keep my life in order.

And thank you to my children, Elisabeth, Philip, and Janet, for their love and dedication. Elisabeth is the archivist of family photos; Philip handled legal aspects; and Janet, a published author, was so helpful with her expertise as an editor.

A number of years ago, I turned on Comedy Central and got a jolt. It was a rerun of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and I was sitting on the guest couch, talking with Johnny. This was back in 1979, at the height of my fame as the inventor of the Heimlich Maneuver. I was surprised to see myself on national television, but the fact is, the maneuver I had created to save the lives of choking victims had proven so effective that it had made me a celebrity.