Henry Heimlich choking-rescue guidelines of the American Heart Association and of the American Red Cross taught rescuers to first perform a series of backblows to remove the FBAO (foreign body airway obstruction); if backblows failed, then rescuers learned to proceed with the Heimlich maneuver (aka "abdominal thrusts"). After a July 1985 American Heart Association conference, backblows were removed from choking-rescue guidelines. From 1986 to 2005, the published guidelines of the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross recommended only the Heimlich maneuver as the treatment for choking; the National Institutes of Health still does apply it for conscious persons over one
Henry Heimlich trachoma, a previously incurable bacterial infection of the eyelids that was causing blindness throughout Asia and the Middle East. His approach – a mixture of an antibiotic ground into a base of shaving cream – proved effective, and it was used successfully on hundreds of patients. In 1962, Heimlich invented the chest drainage flutter valve (also called the Heimlich valve) and in 1969 was granted a patent for the device. He said his inspiration came from seeing a Chinese soldier die from a bullet wound to the chest during World War II, a claim that was disputed by Frederick Webster,