Research Confirms HM is Best Treatment for Drowning

Drowning occurs when a victim's lungs fill with water. As long as water remains in the lungs, breathing is impossible. The Heimlich Maneuver® pushes up on the diaphragm, compressing the lungs. This quickly expels water from the lungs of drowning victims and jump starts breathing. Mouth-to-mouth, in contrast, attempts to force air into lungs which are already full of water.

"It is clear that needless drowning deaths occur because would-be rescuers use CPR by itself, use CPR first, perform it improperly or don't know how to do it at all," Dr. Heimlich says. "Using CPR delays ventilation, causes fatal complications and complicates the rescue procedure for many people."

The Heimlich Maneuver saves drowning victims by instantly and safely removing water from the lungs. This enables drowning victims to breathe. Just about everyone, including children, knows how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. The public only needs to learn: To save drowning victims, use the same Heimlich Maneuver as for choking victims.

After teaching CPR for heart attacks and drowning for 40 years, the American Heart Association (AHA) has announced it no longer requires mouth-to-mouth for the treatment of heart attacks. Now, the AHA instructs 911 emergency telephone operators that they are not to teach callers faced with heart attack victims to use mouth-to-mouth; they are to teach only chest compressions. In addition, the AHA now no longer requires professional or lay rescuers to use mouth-to-mouth for heart attacks. The change, published in the AHA Guidelines 2000, came after proof the death rate increased when mouth-to-mouth is used, according to a seven-year study conducted by the University of Washington. However, the AHA still recommends mouth-to-mouth for drowning victims, even though they cannot provide one study proving that mouth-to-mouth is beneficial when water is present in the lungs. Since mouth-to-mouth increases the death rate of heart attack victims whose airways are clear, how can it possibly benefit drowning victims whose airways are obstructed by water?

"It is essential that major health organizations advise the public of the importance of using the Heimlich Maneuver to clear water from the lungs, and no time can be lost," says Dr. Heimlich. "Every day we wait, more people, many of them children, die needlessly. More than 1,000 children die annually in residential pools, bathtubs and water buckets. They can be saved when everyone knows to use the Heimlich Maneuver to save drowning victims."

The AHA and the American Red Cross first officially recognized and adopted the Heimlich Maneuver for saving drowning victims in 1986.

Statistics, collected from 1995 to 2000, prove the Heimlich Maneuver is the most effective way to save drowning victims. Based on results obtained from 152 unconscious, non-breathing drowning victims who were resuscitated using the Heimlich Maneuver, the mortality rate plummeted to about three percent. This is in sharp contrast to studies showing that more than 40 percent of drowning victims die when CPR is the only method used. After performing the Heimlich Maneuver, breathing usually restarted spontaneously once the lungs were cleared. In rare instances, lifeguards found mouth-to-mouth effective after the Heimlich Maneuver had cleared water from the lungs.

"The study merely provides scientific proof of what we've been trying to tell major lifesaving and healthcare organizations all along," says Dr. Heimlich. "The simple truth is that you cannot get air into water-blocked lungs. The Heimlich Maneuver removes the water from the lungs."