For decades, the Heimlich maneuver has been lauded as the best course of action to save someone who is choking, but now experts say there is a better way. Since it was published in 1974 , the Heimlich maneuver has been the de facto emergency strategy for choking. Typically, a first-aider would approach the choking person from behind, place their arms around them, and pull upwards and inwards on the abdomen; the pressure from this action can usually expel anything lodged in the airway.
However, research has linked the technique to damage to the ribs and heart valves and ruptures in the stomach and food pipe. Far less invasive than the Heimlich, hitting someone in the back directly between the shoulder blades can be just as effective in dislodging an obstruction. In 2005, the American Red Cross revised its recommendations for foreign body/airway obstruction (FBAO) to first administer five back blows and, if unsuccessful, then do five abdominal thrusts, AKA the Heimlich maneuver.
Grace Lawson, a lead EMT trainer with St John Ambulance, told The Mirror , “Going for back blows first is always a better option to start with and then moving onto abdominal thrusts.” She notes that the abdominal thrusts that are the hallmark of the Heimlich “can cause quite a lot of damage to the casualty.” Before beginning blows or thrusts, Grace says communication with the choking person is paramount, “We start by asking them if they are choking just in case it might be something like a sev.
