The Heimlich Maneuver and the Resuscitation of Near-Drowning Victims

Abstract

To the Editor.— At the Interim Meeting of the American Medical Association's (AMA) House of Delegates in 1985, Resolution 52 was introduced, asking that the AMA recognize the Heimlich maneuver (subdiaphragmatic abdominal thrusts) as the only recommended method for treatment of choking from foreign-body airway obstruction. This resolution was referred to the Council on Scientific Affairs. The Council had previously reviewed the techniques for emergency treatment of foreign-body airway obstruction 1 and had concluded that a combination of back blows and abdominal thrusts is more effective than either one alone in the first-aid management of an obstructed airway. In coming to this conclusion, the Council had noted that there was no evidence based on experiments or case reports that was adequate to settle the controversy centered on the relative efficacy and safety of back blows vs subdiaphragmatic abdominal thrusts. In July 1985, the National Conference on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and