Henry Heimlich from a heart attack in his home in Hyde Park, Cincinnati, on December 12. He was 96 years old. Henry Heimlich Henry Judah Heimlich (; February 3, 1920 – December 17, 2016) was an American thoracic surgeon and medical researcher. He is widely credited as the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver, a technique of abdominal thrusts for stopping choking, described in "Emergency Medicine" in 1974. He also invented the Micro Trach portable oxygen system for ambulatory patients and the Heimlich Chest Drain Valve, or "flutter valve", which drains blood and air out of the chest cavity. Heimlich was born in
Henry Heimlich thrusts, a method first recommended in a 1976 study by Charles Guildner, with results duplicated in a year 2000 study by Audun Langhelle. The 2006 guidelines also eliminated the phrase "Heimlich maneuver" and replaced it with "abdominal thrust". Allegations of case fraud have dogged Heimlich's promotion of abdominal thrusts as a treatment for drowning. The 2005 drowning rescue guidelines of the American Heart Association did not include citations of Heimlich's work and warn against the use of the Heimlich maneuver for drowning rescue as unproven and dangerous, due to its risk of vomiting leading to aspiration. In 2003, Heimlich's colleague