Encore: Heimlich Maneuver | Heimlich’s Maneuver | 1

American Innovations

Wondery

Steven Johnson, History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Science

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2021

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the 1960s, choking was a national epidemic. In the United States alone, close to 4,000 people were dying from choking every year. Lobster, ham, and hamburger were common culprits. But steak was by far the greatest offender.

Coroners called for a solution to these “Cafe Coronaries,”\x9d and the medical community responded with weird and dangerous gadgets: vacuum tubes and long tweezers. But Dr. Henry Heimlich knew this problem required something else; a simple technique that anyone can use to save the lives of choking victims—the Heimlich Maneuver.

The Heimlich Maneuver would save the lives of thousands of people, including Carrie Fisher, Cher, New York Mayor Ed Koch, and at least one American President. And yet, Dr. Heimlich would spend a decade fighting for the legitimacy of his life-saving maneuver.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American innovations,
0:03.6	Add Free on Amazon Music, download the app today.
0:08.0	Join Wundery Plus to listen to American innovations one week early
0:12.1	and add free in the Wundery app.
0:14.3	Download the Wundery app in your Apple or Google Play mobile app store today.
0:19.1	Oh, listen her note.
0:20.3	In our last series, we explored cryonics,
0:23.0	the controversial practice of freezing and preserving the human body
0:27.0	with the hope of reviving it in the future.
0:29.5	We thought it was a good time to revisit one of our favorite episodes
0:32.8	about another surprisingly controversial medical procedure,
0:36.5	the Heimlich maneuver.
0:38.0	It's the story of an outsider who refused to play by the medical establishments rules
0:43.0	as he pushed to bring his life-saving technique into the mainstream.
0:47.5	This one-part series originally aired in 2019.
1:00.0	It's late afternoon on June 6, 1976,
1:04.3	and Ronald Reagan is flying home from a weekend campaigning in Ohio.
1:09.6	He's surrounded by his staff and his wife Nancy.
1:13.0	Everyone on the plane is on edge.
1:15.5	It's been a long and bitter campaign.
1:18.8	In two days, Ohio, New Jersey, and California will hold their primary elections.
1:25.0	They are the last three states in the country to do so.
	...

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