Since its promotion in 1974, the Heimlich Maneuver has been an invaluable first-aid procedure, which is believed to have saved the lives of countless thousands of choking victims. Henry Heimlich’s life story is one motivated by saving people from unnecessary death and injury. His painstaking development of the abdominal thrust technique is an arresting tale in and of itself. But, so too were his determined efforts to popularize the method in order that ordinary citizens too could become lifesaving heroes. Nevertheless, suffocation by ingestion or inhalation remains the fourth most common cause of preventable death in the United States, requiring that the general public be simply and properly taught on a continuing basis how to administer this vital technique.