The Cincinnati Beacon
Weekly Medical Newsletter Calls Enquirer To Task
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
 Consumer Health Digest, a weekly email newsletter with a distribution of over 11,000 subscribers, criticized the Enquirer in their latest publication. Several reporters across the nation subscribe to this digest, so it will be interesting to see what happens, if anything, as a result.
Here is the relevant portion from Consumer Health Digest:
Heimlich maneuver irresponsibly plugged as drowning treatment.
Henry Heimlich, M.D., who is credited with promoting abdominal thrusts for dislodging solid bodies in the airway (sometimes called the Heimlich Maneuver), is also advocating this method for treating drowning. Because abdominal thrusts do not open the airway and can cause fatal aspiration of stomach contents, the American Heart Association has concluded that their use is “unnecessary and potentially dangerous.” [American Heart Association. 2005 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, Part 10.3 Drowning. Circulation 112:IV-133-IV-135, 2005] http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/112/24_suppl/IV-133 On May 27, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a full-page graphic highlighting abdominal thrusts as a first treatment for drowning. After complaints by several experts, the Enquirer published a modified graphic that still promoted abdominal thrusts.
http://www.cincinnatibeacon.com/index.php/magaddiction/comments/the_enquirers_pool_safety_a_threat_to_life/
Despite two weeks of further protests by NCAHF president Dr. Robert Baratz, the newspaper has failed to retract its dangerous advice.
Let the games begin!
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