# So I performed the Heimlich maneuver today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370 "2005-06-07T23:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/21 "2005-06-08T04:05:46Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Hmm… a possibility of broken ribs and a chance at surviving, or… not. I’ll take Life for $1000 Alex. Well, if the people that were teaching **Cunctator** had failed to teach an alternative method, you might have a point. But according to him, they said that the method they teach was not only less harmful than the Heimlich, but that it actually works better. Anyway, right now the Heimlich is the only one i know, so if the occasion arises then i guess it’s the one i’ll use. And great job by the OP. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/22 "2005-06-08T05:12:18Z")
“I brought you into this world and, damnit! I CAN take you out of it with my slightly over cooked beef products!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/23 "2005-06-08T06:02:49Z")
> [@Brynda](#): > > Why? > > Good for you, **PunditLisa**! I bet your daughter will never do that again. Never do what again-choke? No offense, but you make it sound like it’s the daughter’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/24 "2005-06-08T06:52:34Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > …and these alternate methods are? It’s much easier to demonstrate them than it is to describe them in writing obviously, but I’ll give it a try: - initially, get the choking person to lean head first over the back of a chair. Then make several swift upward blows with the palm of your hands in between the person’s shoulderblades. - if this is not successful, try getting the choking person to lie on his side, then press down firmly several times on his side, just below the ribcage. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/25 "2005-06-08T10:46:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Never do what again-choke? No offense, but you make it sound like it’s the daughter’s fault. Even though the roast beef was overcooked, I suspect that the most likely cause of choking was bolting down her food and not chewing fully. Unless, say, she was somehow startled into swallowing prematurely. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/26 "2005-06-08T12:20:05Z")
I was in a Red Cross CPR/AED class yesterday morning and the first thing covered was the Heimlich. They also demonstrated how to do the Heimlich to yourself if you are choking and you are alone. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/27 "2005-06-08T13:16:22Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > It’s much easier to demonstrate them than it is to describe them in writing obviously, but I’ll give it a try: > > - initially, get the choking person to lean head first over the back of a chair. Then make several swift upward blows with the palm of your hands in between the person’s shoulderblades. I just took an infant first aid course (just the quick one at the hospital, I’m not certified yet) and this upside-down tilt blow to the back between the shoulderblades is what they taught for infants. They’re small enough that we were taught to lay them on our forearms, head in our hand, support with our leg (preferably while sitting) so their head is lower than their feet and _thwack_ HARD with the heel of our hand several times. That failing, give two breaths CPR style. The idea is that either a bit of air will get around the obstruction, which is A Good Thing OR the air will wiggle the obstruction down a bit and another back thwack will release it up and out. Of course, it’s possible that the breath in will force the object into the lung. The nurse pointed out that there are several lobes to the lung, and while pushing something into the lung is not the ideal answer, and should quickly be followed by an emergency room visit, it’s better to have something in your lung than in your airway itself. Air can get into other lobes and into the blood if it can get through the bronchus. Don’t know about older kids or adults though. But it seems to me that if Heimlich is what you know, you do it. Broken ribs and bruised lungs are better than suffocation in my book. Goodjob, **PunditLisa**! (And **PunditDog**.) ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/28 "2005-06-08T13:43:06Z")
OMG!! That must have been so scary! I’d say it certainly “worked” for you and your daughter. YAY! ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/29 "2005-06-08T14:24:02Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Never do what again-choke? No offense, but you make it sound like it’s the daughter’s fault. Basically, what **Ferret Herder** said. Choking doesn’t strike randomly, it happens when you take too large a bite, don’t chew well enough, etc. In that sense, it was the daughter’s fault, although clearly she didn’t realize that could happen and I wasn’t really blaming her. All I meant was that she will be more careful in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/30 "2005-06-08T14:34:37Z")
Way to go, PunditLisa! And about the Heimlich being dangerous - so’s using bleach. Or cooking. Anything - specially if you do it wrong. Nava, who right now has a burnt spot on her chest about the size of a quarter, courtesy of an uppity trout. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/31 "2005-06-08T19:31:12Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > Even though the roast beef was overcooked, I suspect that the most likely cause of choking was bolting down her food and not chewing fully. Unless, say, she was somehow startled into swallowing prematurely. She later 'splained, “I couldn’t cut it with my teeth, so I just swallowed it.” :smack: Hey, I never claimed to be Julia Child. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/32 "2005-06-08T19:50:27Z")
I often think of the Heimlich manuever when I watch my husband eat. He takes giant (to me) bites of food and he eats fairly fast. I tell him often that I’ll be saving his life some day when he chokes. **PunditLisa** that would have scard the shit out of me. Glad you both came through it with minimal trauma. Even the doggie was spared! **Cunctator** Thanks for the description. I may need that one day. My husband isn’t all that much bigger than me but I often wonder if I’d be able to perform the Heimlich manuever. I’ll have to research the alternatives. Good information. (can you tell I worry about this?) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370/33 "2005-06-08T20:12:52Z")
Very nicely done, **Lisa**. You do realize though that now your dog will expect all his meals _warm_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-performed-the-heimlich-maneuver-today/307370.md?page=1)