The doctor credited with developing the Heimlich manoeuvre says he used the emergency technique for the first time himself to save a woman choking on food at his senior living centre.
Dr Henry Heimlich (96) said he had demonstrated the well-known manoeuvre many times through the years, but had never before used it on a person who was choking.
An employee at the Deupree House in Cincinnati, where Dr Heimlich lives, said the retired chest surgeon was in the room when an 87-year-old woman, Patty Ris, began choking.
The employee, Perry Gaines, who is maître d’ for the home’s dining room, said Dr Heimlich dislodged a piece of hamburger from the woman’s airway and she quickly recovered.
Mr Gaines told the Cincinatti Enquirer that he had been trained in the Heimlich manoeuver himself and had performed it at least twice in the two years he has worked at the Deupree House.
When he arrived at the table where Ms Ris was in difficulty, Dr Heimlich, who invented the famous technique for clearing a blocked airway, was already standing behind her, ready to perform it.
Typically, a staff member would do it, but Mr Gaines told the Inquirer he paused and considered the fact that "it is Dr Heimlich".
Dr Heimlich, who swims and exercises regularly, the newspaper reported, said the incident made him appreciate how wonderful it had been “to be able to save all those lives”.
Additional reporting: PA