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From Jenna Bush Hager reveals husband Henry saved woman’s life while choking at restaurant: ‘My hero’ by Lindsay Lowe, Today.com, March 9, 2023:
Jenna Bush Hager is calling her husband a “hero” after he jumped into action to save a woman’s life.
The incident occurred Wednesday night when Jenna and her husband, Henry (Hager), were having a quiet dinner at a restaurant with Henry’s mom.
Jenna said she was sitting with her back to the restaurant, while Henry sat facing outward.
“All of a sudden, he says, ‘That woman is choking!’” Jenna said. “He gets up, he runs over, and he gives a woman the Heimlich maneuver for, it felt like it was 10 minutes.”
Jenna said some other people came over to help as Henry continued to try to save the woman.
“He continued, and other men were helping him, and I could tell he thought it wasn’t working, and he was saying, ‘Guys, keep going, keep going, keep going!’” Jenna said. “And she survived. 911 arrived.”
For the past month I've tried to verify Ms. Hager's story by sending a couple dozen emails and leaving messages for various parties: Mr. Hager, senior producers at the Today Show, NBC's head of publicity; and the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
The result was deafening silence - including from Ms. Lowe, the writer who bylined the Today.com item. (Page down for the unanswered DMs I sent her.)
The only response came from Andrew Kaufman, Director of Communications and Marketing at the Bush Center:
Unfortunately, the best way to reach the Hagers are the methods you used – my powers are limited there.
Did the incident really happen? If not, it wouldn't be the first time a celebrity may have fabricated a dramatic choking rescue.
For example, in 2012 here's what country star Luke Bryan told People Magazine:
I had a friend do the Heimlich on me last Monday in a pizza restaurant. It was pretty freaky there for about 30 seconds. A piece of flatbread pizza flaked off and got lodged in my airway, and I went down. He picked me up and got it out of there!
As Sidebar readers know, I reported a string of stories about my unsuccessul efforts to verify his claim.
The Bryana and Hager stories story raise an interesting point.
When a celebrity makes a dramatic, newsworthy claim on national television, do they have a responsibility to back it up?
As you might guess, I think they do.
But I don't have the clout to compel powerful, connected people to respond to my questions.
If someone out there does have the requisite swat and the Hagers (or Bryan, for that matter) provide the information I requested, I'll update this item with gratitude and without hesitation.
A young man was eating a chicken sandwich in the kitchen of a Wisconsin restaurant, when it went down the wrong way and he started choking. But the man who saved his life is getting backlash for the way he came to the rescue.
When 20-year-old Ashton Hoffhein put his hands around his throat, making the universal sign for choking, bartender Joseph Reinhart sprung into action.“I noticed that he kind of had his hands by his throat for international sign for choking and just kind of without thought, I started performing what I knew as the Heimlich maneuver,” Reinhart said.But his heroism is also making him the target of criticism, because he didn't use the perfect technique to execute the maneuver.Reinhart wrapped his arms around Hoffein’s [sic] chest, much higher than they were supposed to be and lifted him off the ground while squeezing. Bad technique or not, it still worked, and the piece of chicken flew out....“His technique wasn’t perfect, but it did contribute to saving his life,” expert Shane Woodall of Frontline Health told Inside Edition.Woodall showed us the correct way to do the Heimlich maneuver.
A review of the scientific literature suggested that back blows, abdominal thrusts and chest compressions are equally effective (at relieving an airway obstruction). Additionally, the use of more than one method can be more effective to dislodge an object. These findings are consistent with those of international resuscitation societies.
The Red Cross certainly isn’t discounting the use of abdominal thrusts. But we include back blows, abdominal thrusts and chest compressions in our training...
From ILCOR's 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations published on October 21, 2020 in Circulation, the AHA's journal:
The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) was formed in 1992 as an international council of councils and currently includes representatives from the American Heart Association (AHA), the European Resuscitation Council, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation, the Resuscitation Council of Southern Africa, the InterAmerican Heart Foundation, and the Resuscitation Council of Asia.1 The ILCOR mission is to promote, disseminate, and advocate international implementation of evidence-informed resuscitation and first aid by using transparent evaluation and consensus summary of scientific data.
...The topic of foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO) was last reviewed by ILCOR in 2010, and at that time, the principal treatment recommendation was that “chest thrusts, back blows, or abdominal thrusts are effective for relieving FBAO in conscious adults and children older than 1 year.
Although chest thrusts, back slaps, and abdominal thrusts are feasible and effective for relieving severe FBAO in conscious (responsive) adults and children ≥1 year of age, for simplicity in training it is recommended that abdominal thrusts be applied in rapid sequence until the obstruction is relieved (Class IIb, LOE B). If abdominal thrusts are not effective, the rescuer may consider chest thrusts (Class IIb, LOE B). It is important to note that abdominal thrusts are not recommended for infants <1 year of age because thrusts may cause injuries.
Trainer: A question that often comes up in our courses is to why we don't do the Heimlich manoeuvre in Australia. So are you all aware of that where they get that sort of a bear hug squeeze from behind? OK, the reason it's not taught is the simple fact that research conducted here in Australia and also overseas has proven that it can be dangerous because there's a risk of damaging internal organs such as the spleen, the liver, pancreas etc. We follow the policy statements as laid down by the Australian Resuscitation Council, they are saying that if there was any clinical evidence to prove that it was effective they'd put a policy on it and we would have it in our book. Any other questions?
A Foreign Body Airway Obstruction (FBAO) is a life-threatening emergency. Chest thrusts or back blows are effective for relieving FBAO in conscious adults and children with low risk of harm (only 4 observational studies report harm from back blows and 5 observational studies report harm from chest thrusts). Life-threatening complications associated with use of abdominal thrusts (including the Heimlich Manoeuvre) have been reported in 52 observational studies. [Click here for a compilation of study citations.] Therefore, the use of abdominal thrusts in the management of FBAO is not recommended and, instead back blows and chest thrusts should be used. [Good practice statement] These techniques should be applied in rapid sequence until the obstruction is relieved. More than one technique may be needed: there is insufficient evidence to determine which should be used first.
(It) is clear the Heimlich maneuver was recommended by Henry Heimlich for general usage without any human clinical studies to support its safety and efficacy. With (Dr.) Heimlich’s aggressive promoting of the technique it became the recommended way to treat choking conscious individuals despite experimental evidence showing it inferior to chest thrusts and no controlled human trials to support its safety and effectiveness.
Australia and New Zealand, countries free of Heimlich’s influence, do not recommend the Heimlich maneuver for choking victims.
It is entirely possible that chest thrusts are a safer and more effective maneuver for removing foreign bodies from choking victims. Since Dr. Heimlich died in December, 2016 perhaps the organizations that teach CPR can reevaluate their recommendations in this area without fear of public shaming or retribution.
Given the uncertainty in the treatment of choking victims and the number of deaths, a national trial comparing chest thrusts versus abdominal thrusts as the initial procedure should be initiated as soon as possible.
Frontline Health LLC is a Proud Provider of American Red Cross First Aid CPR AED certification training classes and an American Heart Association BLS Provider certification training site.
Recently, manual suction devices (airway clearance devices) that use a vacuum to remove foreign bodies have become commercially available. These devices have not previously been reviewed by ILCOR and were included in this SysRev. The data in the peer-reviewed literature assessing the efficacy of suction-based airway clearance devices comprised just 1 case series of 9 adults, which the task force deemed insufficient to support the implementation of a new technology with an associated financial and training cost...The task force suggested that suction-based airway clearance devices should not be used routinely.
Resuscitation Council UK is aware that several airway clearing devices for the treatment of choking are now available in the UK. There is insufficient evidence on the safety or effectiveness of these devices for us to recommend their use, and we are concerned that the use of these devices could delay established treatments for choking; for this reason, Resuscitation Council UK does not support their use.
Appropriately trained healthcare professionals can already use
advanced techniques such as suction or laryngoscopy and forceps for
airway foreign body removal. We recommend that new airway clearance
devices should only be used by trained healthcare professionals as part
of a formal evaluation.
Kudos to WSJ for giving thorough look at ‘Heimlich alternative’ devices for choking victims by Susan Wei PhD, Dan Mayer MD & Joya Victory, Health News Review, July 18, 2016
We are pleased today to confirm a total number of 11 (eleven) choking deaths in the adult care sector last year were prevented with Dechoker.Funding for life-saving product maker by Jon Robinson, Inside Media Ltd., February 11,
According to staff at Brookholme Residential Care Homes in Chesterfield, a resident began choking and turned blue after eating a piece of bacon. Staff told a Dechoker representative in the UK that abdominal thrusts did not work, and that they believe the resident would have died without the Dechoker.Anti-choking devices: a lot of servile "journalism" and no clinical trials by Esther Samper, Hipertextual, May 26, 2019. Click here for original Spanish version; click here for English version via Google Translate
...Kerry Toulson, manager of Dudbrook Hall in Brentwood Essex said: “We recognised that one of our residents, in particular, was at serious risk of choking on her food which was a real worry.
...“Approximately four weeks after our training, a resident who we were concerned with had been assessed as requiring a fork-mashable diet. One lunchtime they choked and lost consciousness.”
When staff failed to remove the object by using traditional methods of back blows and abdominal thrusts, staff began using the Dechoker. The blockage was removed easily, and the resident recovered quickly.
Staff at a Wyre Forest care home have praised an innovative anti-choking device which was used to save the life of a resident who "turned blue" after choking on a piece of sausage.
First-aiders at Casa Mia Care Home in Far Forest turned to the Dechoker as a last resort after back slaps and abdominal thrusts failed to revive a woman who fell unconscious for between three and four minutes during dinner on July 18.
Team leaders Tracey Hemmings, aged 46, and Lorraine Swain, aged 58, say the woman, who suffers with a mood disorder which affects her mobility, "would have died" if it wasn't for the device.
..."Lorraine had already tried back slaps but that didn't work, so we started doing abdominal thrusts. When that didn't work we realised the severity of the situation and called 999.
"She was totally unresponsive and started to turn blue.
"We grabbed the Dechoker as a last resort. We have three of them in the home and were all trained how to use them last year.
..."She started breathing again. It was amazing.
"Lorraine and I both said she would have died otherwise. It was a really close call."
The resident was the 31st person to be saved by a Dechoker...
Casa Mia now wants to encourage other care homes in the area to invest in a Dechoker...* Via the February 11, 2019 Press Gazette article by Charlote Tobitt, Blogger (Peter M. Heimlich) asks press regulator to consider sanctions against online publishers that pull articles without explanation
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State Rep. Jim Marshall’s recent bill on infant CPR and choking prevention will need to be amended in the Senate after he learned that the well-known Heimlich maneuver is not recommended for babies.In contrast to Rep. Marshall's prompt, responsible actions, an unaccountable, renegade "first aid training" program based in Cincinnati has been putting the lives of infants and others at risk around the nation since 2012.
...(Peter Heimlich) said his father’s namesake technique is not recommended for infants. Heimlich said medical groups, such as the American Red Cross, advise against using the procedure on infants.
...“Unfortunately, I didn’t receive Mr. Heimlich’s email until after the bill passed the House of Representatives, but we’ve passed along his information to the Senate so they can consider a corrective amendment when House Bill 783 is considered,” Marshall said in an email. “It is certainly my intent to ensure there is no confusion about the appropriate rescue procedures for a choking infant.”
Abdominal thrusts, however, may cause complications. For this reason, the Heimlich maneuver should never be performed unless it is necessary. Reported complications of the Heimlich maneuver include damage to internal organs, such as rupture or laceration of abdominal or thoracic viscera. In fact, victims who receive the Heimlich maneuver should be medically evaluated to rule out any life-threatening complications.If those concerns apply to children and adults, it’s easy to imagine the potential complications for tiny, vulnerable bodies.
Who would be reckless enough to encourage teaching the public an unapproved, experimental "treatment" that may serious injure infants -- or worse?
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| PCRM's "Henry J. Heimlich Award for Innovative Medicine," which to my knowledge has not been presented since 2010. More information via Heimlich Maneuvered -- A gala at Cindy Landon's honoring a top scientist discredited by his son gets a venue change by Paul Teetor, LA Weekly, April 8, 2010 |
After talking to Mayo Clinic for more than a year, the Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed a complaint asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to investigate Mayo’s use of pigs in annual training emergency medical training....I thought I’d take the opportunity to share with you some information which in my opinion raises some interesting questions about the organization.
In Tampa, which has one of the highest drowning rates in the country, Dr. James Orlowski said he has documented nearly 40 cases where rescuers performing the Heimlich maneuver have caused complications for the victim. Orlowski is chief of pediatrics and pediatric intensive care at University Community Hospital in Tampa.
“You’ve got one man and a few small supporters,” Orlowski said, “that continue to push this in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”For decades, those supporters included PRCM and the group’s founding president, Neal Barnard MD.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine salutes the life and career of Henry J. Heimlich, M.D., a tremendously innovative and creative scientist. The Heimlich maneuver, for which he is known, has saved countless lives.
...“Dr. Heimlich was the embodiment of innovation, compassion, and getting the job done,” says Physicians Committee president Neal Barnard, M.D., F.A.C.C.
"Within two days I started to get fevers as high as 106 degrees"...After Monahan's return from Mexico City, life consisted of hours of fever followed by chills - and intense pain. "My lower back felt like a truck slammed into it and I found that a malaria headache is the most excruciating pain you can imagine." Her New Jersey doctor allowed the malaria to persist untreated for five weeks. During that time she logged 130 "fever hours," when her temperature exceeded 101 degrees. She vomited constantly, lost 40 lb. and required intravenous fluids to compensate for dehydration. "We went until my body couldn't take it anymore," she recalled, "and then I took the antimalarial drug"...
"I'm going back for another treatment," she says. "Dr. Heimlich told me I may have to do it again. He's made all the arrangements with the doctors in Panama."As it happens, per this letter donated by my dad to the University of Cincinnati’s Henry J. Heimlich Archival Collection, Dr. Barnard may have helped finance Ms. Monahan’s “treatment”:
May 30, 1991
Neal D. Bernard, M.D.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
P.O. Box 6322
Washington, D.C. 20015
Dear Neal:
I received your generous donation of $1,000.00 on May 20. Thank you so much for your continuing support of our research projects.
I'm pleased to report our first group of Lyme disease patients has completed malariatherapy at the clinic in Panama and their induced malaria is being cured. In fact, I leave tomorrow so that I can be there this weekend. The results so far are gratifying, and we hope to see even more progress in the weeks to come.
In about an hour, Susan and I will be meeting with Mike Handley to discuss the PSA's to focus on responsible medicine.
Keep in touch. As soon as I have finished documenting our recent malariatherapy group, a report will be sent to you for your interest.
Thought you might care to see the enclosed speech given at graduation of Eastern Virginia Medical College.
Thank you again for your support.
Sincerely,
Henry J. Heimlich
President
The Heimlich Institute
2368 Victory Parkway Suite 410
Cincinnati, OH 45206
...Standing behind the victim, the rescuer puts both arms around him just above the belt line, allowing head, arms, and upper torso to hang forward. Then, grasping his own right wrist with his left hand, the rescuer rapidly and strongly presses into the victim's abdomen, forcing the diaphragm upward, compressing the lungs, and expelling the obstructing bolus....Since dad used the beagles in his research, if PCRM had been around at the time would Dr. Barnard and his organization have attempted to shut down the research and thereby presumably derail the development of the Heimlich maneuver which, according to PCRM’s remembrance of my father, “has saved countless lives”?
...The procedure is adapted from experimental work with four 38-pound beagles...After being given an intravenous anesthetic, each dog was "strangled" with a size 32 cuffed endotracheal tube inserted into the larynx. After the cuff was distended to create total obstruction of the trachea, the animal went into immediate respiratory distress as evidenced by spasmodic, paradoxical respiratory movements of the chest and diaphragm. At this point, with a sudden thrust. I pressed the palm of my hand deeply and firmly into the abdomen of the animal a short distance below the rib cage, thereby pushing upward on the diaphragm.
...We repeated the experiment more than 20 times on each animal with the same excellent results.
Inventor and InventHelp Client Develops First-Aid Choking Device (SFO-369)
The HEIMRICK is being submitted to companies by InventHelp, a leading invention submission company.One of my research/reporting interests is anti-choking devices which have been marketed over the decades, so this sounded like a newsworthy item for my blog.
PITTSBURGH, PA (PRWEB) June 09, 2017
An inventor from Fremont, Pa., has developed the HEIMRICK, a device that automatically performs the Heimlich maneuver on a choking victim at a restaurant or related establishment.
“I invented this to prevent people from choking and dying. It’s a safety device that can be available in various eating establishments,” said the inventor.
The HEIMRICK provides a means of accurately performing the Heimlich maneuver on a choking victim. It provides a greater level of effectiveness than manual methods. It will assist individuals with lack of knowledge on how to manually perform the Heimlich. In addition, the size of the victim versus the size of the person helping is irrelevant. This safety device will mechanically help and possibly save a choking victim.
The original design was submitted to the San Francisco office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 16-SFO-369, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention
Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com - https://www.youtube.com/user/inventhelp
Contact Author
Chrissa Chverchko
InventHelp
+1 (412) 288-2136
Ext: 4118 Email >
