DaytonDailyNews.com

After several medical panels rejected the Heimlich maneuver for their lifesaving guidelines in the early 1980s, Heimlich took his case to the public. He promotes Heimlich-first rescues by talking to the media, school children and lifeguards.

"He's asking lifeguards to reject protocols that have been vetted by experts," said B. Chris Brewster of the International and U.S. lifesaving organizations. "That's highly unethical."

Heimlich is the ethical one, he responded. "If you've got evidence that the Red Cross is wrong, what are you supposed to do? Not bring out the truth?"

But there are good reasons why all medical protocols are established by panels with expertise in both the problem and evaluating research, said Brewster, who's an emergency medical technician himself.

"You'd have medical anarchy if every EMT decided to do something he read in the New York Times," he said. "Nobody wants to think we're practicing new theories on their loved ones."

Worse yet, Brewster said, "Many lifeguards are teenagers, and probably impressionable when they hear something from an icon like Heimlich."

Even journalists set aside suspicions when they hear from a name that's in the dictionary. The New York Times' personal health columnist twice advocated Heimlich-first drowning rescues before publishing the heart association's warning against it last month. More than 100 outlets presented Heimlich's case, Baratz said, including this newspaper five years ago in a story that had opposing arguments.

"He tries to argue with the strength of his personality," Baratz said, "rather than with data and experiments and with critical review." Instead of conducting research that refutes the case against his maneuver, Baratz said Heimlich essentially argues, "His maneuver is good is because Henry said so and Henry's Henry."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2129 or klamb@DaytonDailyNews.com.