Heimlich's Maneuvers: My Seventy Years of Lifesaving Innovation

by Henry J. Heimlich

Overview

Here, in his own words, is the story of one of the twentieth century's most creative medical innovators, Dr. Henry Heimlich. The thoracic surgeon is best known for having developed the Heimlich Maneuver, the world's easiest-to-learn and most universally known method to save people from choking to death on food or foreign objects. But many don't know about Dr. Heimlich's other life-saving inventions. He is the inventor of the Heimlich Chest Drain Valve, which saved thousands of lives during the Vietnam War, and the Heimlich MicroTrach, which provides a remarkably efficient way for people to take oxygen. In the present decade, Dr. Heimlich has turned his attention to two devastating illnesses for which medicine has not yet found a cure—cancer and HIV. He describes his research and its promise, as well as the controversy and resistance his new ideas have generated from the medical establishment.Interweaving the author's personal life with riveting stories of his numerous medical breakthroughs, this rich memoir provides insights into the workings of a creative mind and the machinations of the American medical system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616148492
Publisher:	Globe Pequot
Publication date:	02/11/2014
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Henry J. Heimlich, MD, may have saved more lives over the course of his seventy-year medical career than any other living physician. A renowned thoracic surgeon, now retired, Dr. Heimlich is the president of the Heimlich Institute in Cincinnati. His many honors and awards include the Albert Lasker Award, the American Academy of Achievement Award, and induction into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame and the Safety and Health Hall of Fame International.

Table of Contents

Foreword Guy Carpico 11

Author's Note 13

Acknowledgments 15

Chapter 1 Heeeeere's Heimlich! 17

My First Save 19

Chapter 2 My Beginnings 25

An Early Innovation 32

Chapter 3 The Depression, Anti-Semitism, and Visits to Sing Sing Prison 35

Anti-Semitism 36

Prison Time 38

Chapter 4 Medical-School Challenges and a Strange Internship 43

Challenges of Entering Medical School 46

A Medical-School Student 48

Joining the Navy 49

A Medical Intern 51

Chapter 5 En Route to China 55

Leaving America 56

I Am a Mule for the US Navy 59

My Mission Disclosed 61

Arrival in China 63

Chapter 6 A Health Clinic in the Gobi Desert 67

Setting Up a Medical Clinic 70

General Fu Tso Yi 72

An Innovation in the Desert 73

A Patient Dies 77

Transporting a Killer 79

Chapter 7 A Medical Newbie Searches for a Surgical Residency 83

A Real Education 86

Chapter 8 Saving a Life and Finding Love 89

Jane 90

A Proposal of Marriage 94

Chapter 9 Restoring the Ability to Swallow: The Reversed Gastric Tube Operation 97

Treating Patients Who Could Not Swallow 98

Creating a New Esophagus from the Stomach 101

Success in the Laboratory 105

Patients Benefit from the Reversed Gastric Tube Operation 108

An Infant Undergoes the Procedure 112

Chapter 10 Performing the Reversed Gastric Tube Operation behind the Iron Curtain 115

Off to Romania 117

Secrecy and a Communist Government 121

Chapter 11 A Promise to a Dead Soldier Kept The Heimlich Chest Drain Valve 125

The Answer: A Valve 127

A Patient Receives the Chest Drain Valve 128

The Military Takes Notice 129

Chapter 12 A Boy Named Hayani 137

A Disastrous Drink 138

Hayani Arrives in Cincinnati 139

I Operate on Hayani 140

Still Unable to Swallow 142

Relearning How to Speak 144

A Visit to Morocco 146

Chapter 13 Saving the Lives of Choking Victims: The Heimlich Maneuver 149

Choking: A Serious Problem 149

A Successful Experiment 151

Using Air in the Lungs to Push out an Object 153

Getting the Word Out 155

The First Save 160

When the Choking Victim Is Alone 161

My Procedure Gets a Name 163

The Maneuver Goes Mainstream 164

Chapter 14 The American Red Cross and Back Blows 171

Teaching a Potentially Dangerous Method 172

Weak Evidence 174

Red Cross Teachings Are Exposed 176

Abandoning Back Slaps 178

The Return of Back Slaps 179

Chapter 15 The Gift of Breath: The Heimlich MicroTrach 183

The Struggle to Breathe 184

A Tiny, Simple Device 185

A New Lease on Life 187

Hidden from View and Cheaper 189

The Need for Patient Access 193

Chapter 16 Making the Most of Good Ideas 195

Using the Heimlich Maneuver for Drowning 197

Using the Heimlich Maneuver for Asthma 201

Teaching Patients How to Swallow 204

Treating HIV and AIDS with Malariotherapy 209

Chapter 17 Working toward a Caring World 213

Returning to China 215

Signs of Peace 217

A Rewarding Relationship with My Father 223

Allowing Children to Be Superheroes 225

A Caring World on a Global Scale 227

More About Heimlich Heroes 231

Notes 233

Index 245

Editorial Reviews

"As White House physician, I performed the Heimlich Maneuver on a choking guest in the State Dining Room at a holiday reception during the final year of President George H. W. Bush's term in office. Years later, at the Mayo Clinic, I performed the maneuver on a choking staff member. Thank you, Dr. Heimlich, for inventing this lifesaving method that has allowed me to save two lives. This memoir is a must-read for all who want to know about your amazing life and many contributions to medicine.”—Connie Mariano, MD, former White House physician (1992–2001), author of The White House Doctor: My Patients Were Presidents“With compassion and an amazing ability for getting to the essence of problems, Dr. Henry J. Heimlich has saved countless lives. And, as we learn in the pages of this remarkable book, no one has ever lived a life remotely like the inspiring journey that has been Dr. Heimlich's. I recommend that every medical student, every doctor, and everyone who needs to see the potential of the human spirit read this wonderful book and take its lessons to heart.”—Neal Barnard, MD, founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine “From northern China in World War II to the laboratory, to the operating room, and to medical conferences around the world, surgery has been the life of Dr. Henry J. Heimlich. In Heimlich's Maneuvers, Hank recounts the challenges, controversies, and successes of his more than half a century working at the edge of medical knowledge.”—Neil Armstrong“[Heimlich's] ability to find innovative and surprisingly simple solutions to seemingly insurmountable problems has saved countless lives.”—Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine 2010 Award for Innovative Medicine

From the Publisher

2013-11-26
A self-promoting memoir from the inventor of the abdominal thrust technique that bears his name. A retired thoracic surgeon, Heimlich launches into his prideful narrative by relating how he faced and overcame anti-Semitism early in his career; how, as a 21-year-old camp counselor, he saved the life of a man trapped in a train wreck; and how, as a young medical officer in the U.S. Navy, he saved the sight of many Chinese soldiers by medicating their eyes with a concoction he invented. Some years after the war, Heimlich, working with dogs, developed a reverse gastric tube procedure that replaced or bypassed the esophagus, thus enabling patients with damaged ones to swallow. Later, he designed a drainage mechanism with a flutter valve that prevented fluids or air from returning to the chest after surgery and an unobtrusive oxygen delivery device for patients with breathing problems. His best known achievement, however, is the Heimlich maneuver, a simple emergency technique that forces air out of the lungs of a choking person, enabling an object lodged in the airway to be expelled. This technique, writes the author, is also effective for treating asthma and victims of drowning. His ideas have not been universally accepted, and he is still battling with the Red Cross over its recommendation to first try back slaps on choking victims. Heimlich's claim that malariotherapy (injections of malaria-infected blood) can be an effective treatment of HIV/AIDS patients has also met with opposition. Heimlich's plainly written memoir, replete with pictures of himself and anecdotes featuring him with grateful patients, is not just a personal story but a sharp criticism of a medical system that he sees as too slow to accept or at least research controversial new ideas. A rather grandiose self-assessment that may appeal to someone whose life has been saved by the Heimlich maneuver--not likely to reach a wider readership.

Kirkus Reviews