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Originally Posted by Mr. X
The scientific facts concerning drowning and resuscitation, including published case reports, prove that drowning victims die when their lungs fill with water. Air cannot get into water-filled lungs. Heimlich maneuvers remove the water from the lungs in four to six seconds. Pressing upward on the diaphragm jump-starts breathing. Many drowning victims have been saved by rescuers performing the Heimlich maneuver, even after CPR failed. The Heimlich maneuver should be the first step in resuscitating a drowning victim, followed by CPR, if necessary."[/color]
[Also, see self-Heimlich, infant Heimlich & Heimlich for severe Asthma Attacks...it definitely works for choking, I had to use it on a friend once (dry bread jammed in throat). Also had to deal with a choking infant in a high chair -- the non-Heimlich back slapping technique often taught as first aid did *not* work (Heimlich recommends against this, despite normal first aid practice) -- ended up putting my fingers down the childs throat to clear it...life or death, no other choice (he lived). Turned out to be a soft, slippery piece of cucumber sealing his throat off completely.]
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As was mentioned before, the idea of keeping the mouth closed, is to avoid water to enter the airway. Because the main problem is not the water in the upper airways, but the water in the alveoli (where it has different effects depending if it's fresh or salt water). The laryngospasm is a "protective" reflex, that occurs in around 1/3 of the near-drowning victims, but this reflex can cause dry pulmonary edema when the victim try to breath against a closed glottis. Heimlich maneuver is useful for solid foreign bodies in upper airways, but has no utility in liquid bodies, in fact, this is not included in RCP guides for near-drowning, of the AHA. Here is an article that explain it better
J Emerg Med. 1995 May-Jun;13(3):397-405
Besides, the laryngospasm is not there for a long time, after severe hypoxemia the muscle relax and laryngospasm decline.
So, my opinion is, that it's better to avoid any amount of water in the airway and keeping the mouth shut (the victim's mouth
) is the most practical way, and it's important also to keep the mask or nose clip in place to avoid that the water enters through the nose. And the best way to become efficient is by practicing it frequently. The question about the belts depend on the situation, if you are rescuing a huge victim, from 20 meters, I'll drop the victim weight belt. Once I had to recover a friend, not so heavy from 23 meters, who was going down, it took a lot of effort (I didn't ditch any belt). So, when you are facing a rescue, you should think in advance of the problems you should solve during this. That's way I advocate for the practice, because you have to act rapidly, and there is no time for long thinking at the moment
