Red Cross: Add Back Blows to Heimlech?

From the Columbus Dispatch, via GruntDoc:

For decades, a hunk of pork chop stuck in your throat meant one thing: the Heimlich maneuver, a technique made famous in posters and first-aid classes.

It calls for a rescuer to wrap arms around the victim’s waist, make a fist below the rib cage and above the navel, grab the fist with the other hand and press the abdomen with quick upward thrusts until whatever is obstructing the airway is expelled.

But the American Red Cross now calls first for back slaps, a method the Heimlich maneuver’s namesake rejects as dangerous and deadly.

Dr. Henry Heimlich, 86, lives in Cincinnati.

Rescuers should start with five back blows and follow with five abdominal thrusts (the Heimlich maneuver), repeating the sequence, advises the Red Cross, which no longer uses the name Heimlich.