The Importance of the Heimlich Maneuver

Knowing how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver is something you might hear when you are asked to babysit or maybe in your health class. Half the time you don’t know what it is and might just agree because you want to get the money from babysitting. The Heimlich Maneuver is something that everyone should become familiar with because it can save lives when someone is choking. The other day my neighbor choked on a mozzarella stick during lunch and was unable to breathe. Luckily, his friend who was sitting with him knew the Heimlich Maneuver and without thinking, began performing it. Because of his friend’s knowledge, the mozzarella stick popped out of his throat and let him breathe again. You might think that this is a normal thing and not very surprising, but the amazing thing is that they were only 11 years old.

The boy who performed the Heimlich Maneuver learned it from boy scouts, a club that takes part in outdoor activities and teaches kids life-saving techniques. Word of this spread quickly and reached News Casts within a day. The school was flooded with cameras and eager reporters looking for the boys that were involved. The amazing performance of this boy stunned the community and now parents are trying to teach kids this important maneuver. Normally kids aren’t taught the Heimlich Maneuver until they are in their teens unless they participate in clubs like the boy scouts.

There are a few ways to do this maneuver and it should only be performed when someone is unable to breathe or talk. If this is the case you should perform these four important steps:

1. From behind, wrap your arms around the victim’s waist.
2. Make a fist and place the thumb side of your fist against the victim’s upper abdomen, below the ribcage and above the navel.
3. Grasp your fist with your other hand and press into their upper abdomen with a quick upward thrust. Do not squeeze the ribcage; confine the force of the thrust to your hands.
4. Repeat until object is expelled.

If the victim is unconscious you want to lay the victim on their back, place the heel of your bottom hand on the upper abdomen below the rib cage but above the navel, and then use your body weight to press into the victim’s upper abdomen with a quick upward thrust. Another thing that is widely unknown is that it is possible to perform the Heimlich maneuver on yourself! Simply get a chair and put it right against your upper abdomen and push it toward yourself just like you would when performing on a victim.

The important steps of performing this maneuver could save a life and make you a hero just like this 11 year old boy did. Next time you are asked to babysit, review these steps so that you are ready in case someone chokes.

Reference:

• heimlichinstitute.com/page.php?id=34