At 96, the surgeon saved the life of a resident of his retirement home by performing his technique which expels a foreign body from the airways.
It’s never too late to start. Dr. Henry Heimlich, creator of the Heimlich Method, applied his first aid technique for the first time in his life at the age of 96.
The Heimlich method or maneuver is a simple but often life-saving first aid gesture that frees the airways when choking caused by a foreign body.
Last Monday, the retired surgeon was confronted with the suffocation of Patty Riss, a resident of the retirement home in which he now lives. Without hesitation, he got behind her, and applied several blows under the ribs until the piece of meat stuck in the resident’s windpipe was ejected and she could breathe again.
Invented 40 years ago
Doctor Heimlich invented this method in 1974. The movement of the hand causes the viscera to rise which pushes the diaphragm and causes an increase in the pressure in the lungs which is then suddenly released, as in the cough mechanism.
In a video interview released by the facility, Dr Heimlich testified to the joy he got from the experience. “To have saved this women made me feel great “, he said. I knew it worked all over the world, I just felt satisfaction “.
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