亨利·海姆立克：世界上拯救生命最多的人

話說二戰期間，有一位年輕的美國海軍外科醫生名叫亨利·海姆立克，在1945年來到中國戰場，被分配到一個秘密小分隊，來到戰後的戈壁灘上和中國遊擊隊的戰士們一起工作。

戰後，他回國繼續從醫，在美國澤維爾大學臨床醫學院工作。

1972年一個寧靜的周日，他正在家裏看《紐約時報》時，讀到一篇令人吃驚的文章，文章中說美國死亡人數排列第6的意外事故是異物誤入氣管造成的窒息，每年有3000人因此死亡。

他趕緊查看急救手冊上關於窒息搶救的建議，發現造成這一悲慘結果的原因竟是搶救手法上的錯誤。書上的建議是“用手掌猛擊後背，再用手指摳喉嚨”。他是專門研究食道和吞咽的外科醫生，他明白那樣隻會使異物在氣管裏越陷越深。於是他決定幫助人們改正這一錯誤的做法，並尋求一種實用可靠的急救手法。

經過反複實驗，他找到了最簡單實用的方法：救人者站在病人身後，兩手抱住病人腰部，用手對腹部進行快速衝擊，重複這一動作，直到異物從氣管中排出。

在對這一急救法進行測試後，他給《芝加哥每日新聞》的編輯施耐德寄去了說明報告。這個結果一經公布，全美上百家報紙便進行了轉載。

News article helps prevent achoking death

A Hood Canal woman is alive today because of an article in some Sunday editions of The Seattle Times... Isaac Piha... said he read the article twice Saturday night... while in his cabin on Hood Canal. It told of Dr. Heimlich's method of forcing a piece of food out of the wind pipe.

Piha..a retired restaurateur,... was interested... because of the number of instances patrons have choked to death on pieces of meat.... Piha.. and members of his family were enjoying a Father's Day gathering Sunday after noon when Edward Bogachus ran from his nearby cabin calling for help for his wife, Irene. Piha, his son, David, 26, and his niece, Diane Rood, 20, ran to the Bogachus cabin and found Mrs. Bogachus slumped at the dinner table and beginning to turn blue." I thought about heart attack and about that article in The Times while I was running to the cabin." Piha said."When I saw that they'd been eating dinner, I knew it was food lodged in her throat..." (Seattle Times)

一星期後，一位內科醫生寄給海姆立克醫生一份《西雅圖時報》，報紙的的頭版的醒目位置報道了一位老先生救活了被雞肉卡住的奄奄一息的鄰居。而他用的正是從施耐德的專欄上學到的方法。這是我的技術救活的第一個生命!