I’d need less motivation if it were a link
this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
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There should be a link, unless its not loading correctly for you?
Here if is
I just read the Wikipedia entry for the Heimlich manuever. Its creator is now seen as a big fraud. So much drama around it.
Heimlich's son, Peter M. Heimlich, alleges that in August 1974 his father published the first of a series of fraudulent case reports in order to promote the use of abdominal thrusts for near-drowning rescue.
We're god's perfect creations, except accidentally running the very simple commands "swallow" and "breath" at the same time can result in a fatal error.
Don't forget the amusement park right next to the waste disposal facility.
Holding down the up and power button brings my phone into recovery mode... It's a bit like that. Just don't run both commands, if you don't want to ~~wipe~~ disable your device.
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Now tell me what to do when I swallow a too-large piece of potato that is also still hot, and am having a near-death experience while it's slowly making its way down.
Learn to be ok with taking the L and spit food that is too hot back out of your mouth instead of swallowing. Also, test the temperature with smaller bits that will cool inside your mouth easier before going for a big bite.
Too late. I have a hot potato piece in the esophagus right now, and the tunnel in my sight. I don't need preaching, I need urgent advice.
I get water and drink that too.
I often burn my mouth, oesophagus and hands because my tolerance for heat are greater then what my skin can handle it seems
I need more information. Are the potatoes stuck in your throat mashed? Or if they aren't, are you able to get a masher in there? Might help loosen it up and make it more delicious if you add some butter and milk or heavy cream.
I mean, the first piece has gone down by itself, but you're just in time for the second one.
It's mostly intact and is simply boiled with a shitload of butter and milk, but I think I can get a mixer down there, so the situation is adjustable.
Sounds like the second piece ought to shove the first one faster. All good.
Water. Lots of it.
Hmm ok, let me do some research on hot potatoes and I'll get back to you.
hot and starchy
Spray liquid nitrogen directly down your throat
I had a surreal experience once. I was at a busy, casual restaurant at a booth, sitting across from my wife. There was a lady eating alone at a booth a little way behind my wife, and I noticed she looked kind of distressed - looking around like she was trying to catch a waiter - but she seemed to be getting more panicked looking and her face didn't look right. I got up and went over and said "Are you chocking?" and she looked at me with big eyes and nodded. I asked if she wanted me to try and help and she said yes and stood up. I never learned how to do the Heimlich except from TV shows, but seemed worth a try, so I did what I remembered, and she coughed up a piece of chicken. She looked really embarrassed and said "Thank you." I said I was glad to help and went back to my seat. No one in the place noticed a thing except for my wife.
When I was a kid, my mom put a lot of effort into teaching and reminding us to cut up our food into small pieces to make cooking less likely.
I don't know if this story is true, but she would always reference how a relative of hers had gotten steak stuck in his throat, couldn't communicate that, and died in the middle of the dining room seating, surrounded by relatives I guess just thought he was being quiet.
(And that's why you always leave a note)
Can you imagine how that family must have felt? Awful.
holy shit! pretty calm, glad it was chill, but you totally saved their life!!
Funny, when I sat back down, my wife just calmly said, "Did you just save that woman's life?" It was weird, we just went back to eating and never really talked about it again except when someone would mention the Heimlich and my wife would tell the story.
I have the exact opposite experience. I was waiting tables at place with a stage and 500 seats, lights are out, I notice a woman is choking and I went for the heimlich, successfully dislodged something as the house lights were brought on and 500 people are staring at us.
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That was too awkwardly casual of everyone. I would've at least given you a high five!
We're such weird creatures. That woman was choking to death and she was too shy to ask for help and too embarrassed after to say much of anything.
Might have been shock on her part. I choked in a restaurant before on a peppermint and my mom saved me with abdominal thrusts but I was really shaken up afterwards from how scary it got and couldn’t really react much for a while afterwards
Same for the person I performed the heimlich on, I found it odd at the time and her daughter thanked me profusely, it was surreal. I also remember being terrified on hurting her as well as potentially being sued if I had, she was a bigger lady and really short so I had her like fully off the ground squeezing the absolute fuck out of her
What a world where I have to have that thought while trying to help
Yeah it’s quite the experience, you can’t breathe and that’s freaking you out and then you’re just airborne all the sudden and something flies out of you and then you suddenly aren’t dying anymore. It’s a trip but damn I’m glad my mom was able to react to it cos the choking part was horrifying. I’m sure the person you saved feels the same way that you were there to react to it, even if in the moment they seemed a bit dissociated.
Yeah I have no doubt about it, it's a pretty unmistakable thing to catch, surprise then terror
The more eyes the better and this seems to be the recommendation:
If an adult or child can still cough, cry or speak clearly, then they are still able to clear the obstruction themselves. Get them to lean forward while encouraging them to cough forcefully.
If the person goes quiet, cannot speak or cry, or can only weakly cough, you want to start with five strong back blows first. With the person bent forward at their hips, deliver firm glancing blows between their shoulder blades using the heel of your hand up to five times.
If the obstruction does not clear, switch to abdominal thrusts. Continue alternating five back blows and five abdominal thrusts until the obstruction is cleared or the person becomes unconscious.
I'm still looking for what to do if I'm alone and something happens.
The article also uses the text "In the updated guidelines, our Canadian study was cited to inform this critical change, and was the only study directly comparing different choking techniques." to link here:
https://cpr.heart.org/en/resuscitation-science/cpr-and-ecc-guidelines/adult-basic-life-support
But I see no mention of any of these directions there. If someone does, let me know where I'm scanning over.
Edit: Failing at adding an underline to signal the actual link while having the URL readable.
Edit: Added the preceding "then they are still able to clear the obstruction themselves" paragraph that I'd mostly scanned over when reading the article
I’m still looking for what to do if I’m alone and something happens.
This video is surprisingly entering and covers:
- You can't talk to 911 (or equivalent) if you're chocking
- Ideally go where people might see you
- How to try to dislodge what you're chocking on if no-one helps
Back when I was in Boy Scouts, we learned how to do abdominal thrusts, and how to do it to yourself. You make the same hand shape (IIRC, one hand clasped over the other with your thumb knuckles forming a triangle into the abdomin), and place your hand in the back of a chair (assuming you're near a chair, which is likely). You then press yourself into it.
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thankfully all i do is blow backs. everytime i see someone i make sure to blow their back. im just back blowing nonstop. i saw your mother at the market last week and blew her back.
Thank you for your service
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Great, now I can't wait to E.Honda the shit out of someone's back.
Plenty of people are very slap-happy to get you out of any remotely cough-looking situation, as if they're doing a great service to humanity by going around whacking people in the back. Gotta swat them away like pests.
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I remember health class around 1993 we were watching a filmstrip from the 70s or early 80s, and the filmstrip told us to do the back blows before performing the Heimlich maneuver. Our health teacher then paused the video and told us NOT to do the back blows, because new research had found that back blows are more likely to push the obstruction further inwards.
I’m glad they had it right in the filmstrip!
Interesting. I was eating at a restaurant with my mom a few years ago and she accidentally inhaled a piece of food which had the same diameter as her esophagus. It was terrifying. She just pointed at her throat and had this look on her face like she knew she was going to die. She stood up, turned around, and I did what I thought was the heimlich maneuver. I must've done it right, or got lucky, but it worked flawlessly. The food came flying out. I guess we're in that 59%.
The same thing happened to my son. Luckily I had first aid training and actually knew how to do the Heimlich. I didn't know that you were supposed to do back blows first though. When I learned, they just told me to go straight for the Heimlich.
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