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SAVE SOMEONE FROM DROWNING WITH THE HEIMLICH MANEUVER

. 92 in Cincinnati where w* live, 8 year-old

Michelle Green Was found floating face down inftpublic

_ ^ . swimming pool; when pulled from the water, she was blue, lifeless, not breathing. But having been submerged for less than five minutes, she had not; yet suffered brain damage. A lifeguard present immediately started mouth* to-mouth (blowing into the mouth), as he bed been taught by the American Red Cross (ARC). Fire fighters, also certified by the ARC, continued the procedure. Each time rescuers forced air into Michelle's mouth she vomited. * * Finally, a paramedic performed the Heimlich Maneuver (applying upward pressure on the diaphragm). Clear water gushed from Michelle's lungsbut too late. Michelle was brain damaged and died in coma a week later. Same CircumstancesDifferent: Outcome One year later, in June, another Cincinnati youngster, Natasha Stuckey, was rescued from a swimming pool; like Michelle, she had been submerged almost five minutes. But this drowning Incident took place at an apartment house pool, With no Red _-Crosa-trained-lifeguards in attendance. The child's rescuer was-a landscape gardener*,:; who performed the Heimlich Maneuver for drowning on Natasha as he had learned it on TV. With th* third Heimlich Maneuver, water gushed from her mouth. Natasha immediately started breathing and recovered fully. Whv Red Cross Instructions Are Killing Children . According to the ARC 1992 Guidelines, * Initial treatment of the near-drowning victim consists of rescue breathing with the mouth-to mouth technique.,.a Heimlich Maneuver should be used only if the rescuer suspects that foreign matter is obstructing the airway or if the victim does not respond appropriately to mouth-to-mouth ventilation.* _ _ __ "(But I n t h e A R C guidelines "appropriate response"1'"is no t"defined|" "so Michelle's rescuers persisted in trying to blow air into the child's water-filled lungs, which lad to brain damage and death.) "Blowing air into the mouth when the airway is blocked by fluid Is useless and only pushes water deeper into the lungs,** says Dr. Heimlich. "That method wastes valuable time and results in loss of oxygen," he adds, "causing brain damage and death."
Seems common sense, doesn't it? You can't get air into the lungs until you get

the water out! And yet the ARC states in its First Aid and Safety Handbook, "It's not important whether or not the lungs fill up with water." V"*" Furthermore, most drowning victims Vomit each time a rescuer blows into their ^*oitthmr*-*tA*$evtlng the rescuet to th* risk o r ^ f ^ Water blocks the airway and so air being breathed into the mouth is forced Into the stomach, distending it. Studies Attest to Danger of ARC Instructions For Drowning A ten-year study of pediatrie drownings in Seattle's public swimming pools has Shown that blowing air into the mouth of drowning victims causes death. There, Almost half the children rescued by lifeguards die because the lifeSoU: It la daoidadly out of eharattar for no to writ* guards are trained to use mouth-to-mouth instead of the Heimabout mf husband** work. But lich Maneuver. dtonning It tht third anit ceoiaan accidental daabh amon* Edward A. Patrick, M.D., Ph.D., a leading authority on children, and with th* awlmoutcome analysis, performed a study of drowning victims based wins aaaaea uptm n, I mat, on reports from several states, when the Heimlich Maneuver *v*xy e m of you to llUn this sfdnpi* and *f*etiva Mthod to was used 877L survived. By contrast, only 28* of drowning aava a dronnint child. victims survived when given mouth-to-mouth.

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V h v t h o H e i m l l c h W a n m i v c r fotr Drowning Saves Liyea; . j W h e n t h e neimlich H a n e u v e r I s performed, o n .a drowning p e r s o n V\ water'bloeiitig the irvy gushes o u t , allowing a i r to enter t h e lungs* A c c o r d i n g t o n u m e r o u s sr^po^rtfi from fir a t a i d experts* t h e p e r s o n b a g l n s t b r e a t h e a l m o s t ijnuediAtelyr ^ n a ^ / ^ n aost: ca.sctsf recovers fully; . , .'"., % : . " " ' ',;.:> ''. .'. . '.'. .,.: " "

You perform the Heimllch Maneuver for drowni&g the - - s n way es^er;. poking;, almost -iae everyone is familiar with the procedure. Even children who^ heye sett the, maneuver demonstrated on a TV sitcom have savd lives. .. y 'Houth-to-mouth, taught as part of CPR (an extremely, cojBplicated procedure that few can perform properly), carries the added risk of contagion er the.rescuer, ~AR<? gnlik&lv to Change Its Instructions The ARC has taught mouth-to "mouth as treatment for drowning for 30 years, even though there has never keen a scientific study to prove that blowing air into the mouth of near-drowning victims without first removing water from the airway Increases survival. fton't. expect the ARC to abandon mouth-to-atoutti treatment for drowning anytime soon. For 12 years after the Heimlich Maneuver for choking was introduced In 1974, the ARC continued teaching the public to slap & choking person on the back. The ARC only changed its instructions for choking in 198S. when former Surgeon General C. Everett &oop described backs laps as "lethal* and recommended that only the =H*4a&ieh"WjKs*uve4M>e; used-t:o-saveehoking-^i45lffls-r~ In the 1970s and 80s, with the hlp of the mediat my husband instructed the American, people how to rescue a choking person using the Heimllch Haneuver, cutting the death rate from choking in half, This spring, Dr. Heimlich is launching a similar campaign to teach the public how to rescue a drowning person* Since most drownlngs occur in apartment house or private pools, the rescuer is most often a bystander, not a lifeguard. Therefore, I urge you to spread the word in your community: speak to your newspaper editor, public safety director, the lifeguard at your swimming pool* and show them the Illustration pictured here. Your efforts will almost certainly prevent unnecessary deaths from drowning. If you (or an organization you belong to) wish to obtain an illustration suitable for posting, send a $5.00 tax deductible contribution (or $8.00 for a laminated poster) to the Heimlich Institute Foundation, P.O. Box 8838, Cincinnati, OH 45208.

save a DROWNING victim

You c a n t get ok Into the lung* wnttt you get the water outl STANDING IN A POOL OB SHALLOW WATER
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1, Stand behind the victim pnd wrap your arms around vtetfm's wabt 2. Make afistand place the thumb side of yourfistagainstfoevictim's abdomen. Mow the no cage and above the navel. 3. Grasp yourfisfwith your other hand and press Ho the victim's abdomen with a quick upward thrust 4, Repeat t*tf8 water no longerflowsfrommoutfv V t c LYING ON QHQUm f. Place victim on back. Turn face to one skM to allow watertodrain from mouth2. Facing victim, toed asjfjde vtoSm's ftps* *. 3. With one of your hands on top of the other, place the beet of your bottom hand onfeeabdomen below in* rib cage and above the navel 4. Use your body weighttopress into .the victim's abdomen with a gick upward thrust Repeat until water no tonger flows from mokiih
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JaftC Kcin&ch, author of the hc&-xm% What You?

Doctor Want TtK You, n the wife of the famous Dr. Henry Hdnitkftj inventor of th * Hamfidi Maneuver*
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