Thank you Henry Heimlich and my brother-in-law, Doug. Learn how to do the Heimlich correctly

Triathlon Forum
1

Every one of you. Be SURE you know how to do a HEIMLICH maneuver correctly. I’m here today thanks to Dr. Heimlich and my brother-in-law.

Last Sunday, at a family get together, I stupidly bit off a piece of steak that was too big, then, stupidly again, I ddin’t spit it out when it was clearly too big. Anyway, while trying to flip it around for a better purchase, it went down, prematurely. AND, it got stuck. I couldn’t get it to budge. I indicated to my wife, a nurse, whom I thought could do a decent Heimlich. she first hit me on the back. I indicated that she needed to do a Heimlich. She must have been worried about hurting me, so it was pretty meek.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw my brother-in-law, Doug, calmly walking around from the other side of the table. I said to myself, Doug is calm, he has the situation in hand, so I pushed my wife away, pushed past my, now hysterical mother-in-law, and planted my butt against Doug. As he wrapped his arms around me, I thought, this is gonna hurt. (I have weird protruding lower ribs.) He put his pist in my belly and gave me a quick firm squeeze and out it popped.

It was surreal. I was calm. Doug was calm. The others around were hysterical.

Now, my right anterior lower ribs are tender, and it hurts to swim, but–hey! I’m typing this.

So the lesson is. Learn how to do it correctly. Don’t baby it. Start with a firm quick effort and increase it with each squeeze. It might save someone you love, or don’t even know (or someone you despise ;-)). Don’t baby it. Yes, it can cause injury, even occasionally serious ones, but that’s a minor price to pay.

2

Wow!! Can’t believe you were not freaking. What did it feel like, Before he did the Heimlich?

3

Similiar thing happened to me a few years back. At a scuba party and something lodged in my trachea. One of my scuba diver instructor buddies with an EMT background knew exactly what to do. Thank God.

4

Glad to hear you are okay! I had the same experience at a pot-luck dinner back in high school. Hunger had set in and I wasn’t about to take that nice juicy enormous piece of meat out of my mouth. So it went down… and got stuck. No biggie I thought… I"ll wash it down with some Mountain Dew. Well, when the Mountain Dew came dribbling back out of my mouth, I knew I had a problem…

Everything is definitely eriely calm. I remember just thinking… wow, is this really happening. And I’m looking around. Thinking I’m going to have to throw myself over a chair when a guy two seats down grabs hold of me and performs the Heimlich. As a CPR instructor, it was definitely going thru my head that I might be the only one in the room that knows the Heimlich. Luckily for me, I had some Boy Scouts on hand.

And it didn’t hurt a bit. I think I was so happy to be alive that I didn’t feel a thing. And no soreness afterwards either. Still just happy to be breathing again…

We’re part of a lucky, lucky club.

5

I don’t know why. I used to do a lot of floating, face down in a jacuzzi, totally relaxed, just to see how long I could hold my breath and stay calm. It freaked my wife out when I did it.

I probably would have freaked if I was getting a feeling of being ‘out of air’ like when I do a couple of 25 m lengths underwater.

6

My ribs and spine are weird, so I knew that the ribs would get squeezed. He’s also strong as hell.

7

Do either of you who had the Heimlich done know if the food got stuck in your esophagus or trachea? I think the Heimlich would work in either scenario as long as there was a fairly airtight fit. But I think it’d be worse if the food was stuck in your trachea.

8

I’ve conducted two Heimlich’s successfully. Glad you’re ok. My first was a good friend who tosses two 800 mg motrin down his pipe and they got stuck. He was on the ground before I got to him. The second was a hard candy that got stuck on another friend.

9

If it’s in the esophagus (oesophagus, for the Brits) you can still breathe just fine, but you can’t swallow.

It’s either in the trachea or the hypopharynx, the space just beyond the tongue and epiglottis where the trachea and esophagus split off. But, the symptoms are due to the food, or candy, or whatever, blocking the trachea. The Heimlich probably applies pressure to the stomach as well as the diaphragm, which would help both.

10

I’ve conducted two Heimlich’s successfully. Glad you’re ok. My first was a good friend who tosses two 800 mg motrin down his pipe and they got stuck. He was on the ground before I got to him. The second was a hard candy that got stuck on another friend.
Hard candy is a **real **risk, especially in kids under 5 years old.
Spoonfuls of peanut butter are the worst, since the Heiimlich will only push air past it and then it replugs.

11

Great! I’ve never had to do it on someone else, but as a kid I had a fireball get stuck in my throat while in the halls and it wasn’t going anywhere. I saw a waterfountain and rammed my stomach against it and that thing came flying out of my throat so fast that it hit the wall and shattered. Those next breaths were the greatest I’d ever taken.

13

Our 11 month old is still trying to get the hang of solids and doesn;t understand how much she can shove in her mouth or when to swallow and when to breathe. We have to watch her like a hawk when she’s eating. I’ve had her out of the high chair and dangling by her ankles twice while I wailed on her back. its the chopped fruit that gets her the most, she sucks it down instead of swallowing it. Scary stuff when her face turns purple and her eyes bulge out.

14

Self Heimlich can work great if the object is solid. Greater risk of injury, so, if your having significant discomfort after, have it checked out.

15

Again, it was almost surreal. Doug and I were calm after. I thanked him–told him I could tell he had the situation in hand, so I knew he was ‘the man.’ There were some people visiting from Korea, that were guests of Doug’s cousin. They were incredulous. There was a fire captain and 2 sheriffs about 50 feet away, so I was probably in good hands anyway.

16

Our 11 month old is still trying to get the hang of solids and doesn;t understand how much she can shove in her mouth or when to swallow and when to breathe. We have to watch her like a hawk when she’s eating. I’ve had her out of the high chair and dangling by her ankles twice while I wailed on her back. its the chopped fruit that gets her the most, she sucks it down instead of swallowing it. Scary stuff when her face turns purple and her eyes bulge out.
I warn parents of kids under 2, everything should be very soft and smaller than 1/4 inch (6mm) and they should assume that children of that age cannot chew as well as a toothless person.

17

Wow. Good job. I have to say the “Nurse” in the story is surprising. Not only is the Heimlich included in the current Red Cross CPR training, which all nurses are required to maintain, but it is also well known that “banging on the back” is exactly what you DON’T do - it more likely would lodge the obstruction farther into you. I know a lot of people who claim they are “nurses” when they just work in a doctors office. I don’t claim to be a doctor, but I readily admit to having stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. I’m CPR certified also.

18

I’m glad you are OK, docfuel.

I just ran a benefit memorial race put on by a local elite whose husband didn’t fair so well. = ( Be thankful Doug knew what to do.

19

Glad to hear that all is well and that your brother-in-law was calm and knew what to do.

Herbert

20

good job staying calm.
seems like that really helped.

21

Wow. Good job. I have to say the “Nurse” in the story is surprising. Not only is the Heimlich included in the current Red Cross CPR training, which all nurses are required to maintain, but it is also well known that “banging on the back” is exactly what you DON’T do - it more likely would lodge the obstruction farther into you. I know a lot of people who claim they are “nurses” when they just work in a doctors office. I don’t claim to be a doctor, but I readily admit to having stayed in a Holiday Inn Express. I’m CPR certified also.

Actually in my most recent certification (January), we were instructed that back blows with the victim lying forward on your arm are now the preferred first step for choking people. Firm and swift back blows with the palm of your hand and the Heimlich as the second step. Let’s be cautious with the “help” we are offering. Everyone should take basic lifesaving courses at the Red Cross for themselves.

I think he said the nurse was his wife. Things change when it is your loved one you are literally beating on or squeezing tightly.