June 7, 2019

Andy Beshear
Kentucky Attorney General
1024 Capital Center Drive
Frankfort, KY 40601
Faxed to (502)573-7151

Dear Mr. Beshear:

Based on the following information, this nonprofit corporation is putting at risk the health
and safety of infants and others throughout the country.

Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation Inc.

250 Grandview Drive
Fort Mitchell, KY 41017
IRS EIN no. 20-7277661

This is to request that your office review the following information and provide me with a
determination whether or not the foundation is violating any state statutes and guidelines.

I. Background

According to the website of Heimlich Heroes, 615 Elsinore Place, Cincinnati, OH 45202:

Heimlich Heroes was developed through a cooperative effort of Deaconess

Associations, Inc. and the Heimlich Institute...To date more than 100,000 people have
learned the Heimlich Maneuver through Heimlich Heroes training program.

Per this training video the organization published on YouTube and a training poster from the
organization’s website, Heimlich Heroes teaches the public to perform abdominal thrusts (the
Heimlich maneuver) on choking infants:
Since 2002, my wife and I have been researching and reporting about the Heimlich maneuver
(named by and after my father, the late Henry J. Heimlich MD). To our knowledge, since dad
introduced his namesake anti-choking treatment in 1974 no legitimate medical organization
or medical expert has ever recommend using it on infants.

Here’s why.

As I reported last year, the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Red Cross
explained they don’t recommend or teach the treatment because it “may cause injuries.”

What kind of injuries? According to the AHA:

Abdominal thrusts, however, may cause complications. For this reason, the Heimlich
maneuver should never be performed unless it is necessary. Reported complications of
the Heimlich maneuver include damage to internal organs, such as rupture or
laceration of abdominal or thoracic viscera. In fact, victims who receive the Heimlich
maneuver should be medically evaluated to rule out any life-threatening complications.

If those concerns apply to children and adults, it’s easy to imagine the potential complications
for tiny babies.

Shockingly, the Heimlich Heroes organization is aware of these concerns.

Via the group’s training materials:

In other words, Heimlich Heroes has knowingly taught “over 100,000 people” an unapproved
medical treatment of unproven effectiveness and safety that may seriously injure infants or
worse.

That’s not the only problem.

Via Heimlich maneuver on unconscious persons causes controversy by Nick Kammerer,

Rambler Newspapers (Irving, TX), November 24, 2014:

Heimlich Heroes, a Cincinnati-based first aid program developed partly by Henry

Heimlich, is teaching students to perform the Heimlich maneuver on unconscious
choking victims. This means that school children are being taught a medical practice
that is not recommended by the American Heart Association or Red Cross, two highly
credible public health organizations.

In an attempt to learn more, in 2014 I e-mailed polite questions to Terri Huntington,

Heimlich Heroes’ Program Manager since the organization's founding in 201 3.

Among other questions, I asked her to provide citations for for any published research
supporting the use of the Heimlich maneuver on unconscious choking victims. 1 (I was already
aware that none exists.)

1 At the time I was unaware her program was teaching the public to perform "the Heimlich" on infants
in choking emergencies.
After failing to answer my questions, Ms. Huntington replied:

(We) are not comfortable with the focus of your questions. As such, neither Deaconess
nor any of its affiliates, including Heimlich Heroes, will respond to any additional
inquiries from you and politely request that you refrain from contacting us further.

I wasn’t surprised by Ms. Huntington’s incompetent response. According to her LinkedIn, she
has no medical training, no background in the medical field, and her prior job was in multi-
level marketing.

II. Why is the Sule Foundation funding this madness?

Two months ago I learned that the Elsa Heisel Sule Foundation of Fort Mitchell, KY, donated
$31,250 to the Heimlich Heroes program, so I sent multiple e-mail inquiries to the
organization's executives requesting more information.

For example, I asked if their foundation consulted any medical authorities re: the
effectiveness/safety of performing the Heimlich maneuver on infants and on unconscious
choking victims. I received multiple confirmations of receipt but no other communications, so
I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they performed zero due diligence.

In any event, presumably the Sule Foundation’s funding will be used by Heimlich Heroes to
further circulate and encourage the public to perform unapproved, experimental medical
treatments that may kill someone.
Thank you for your time/consideration and I look forward to your reply. If you have any
questions I might be able to help answer, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Heimlich
REDACTED
Peachtree Corners, GA 30096
ph: (208)474-7283
e-mail: peter.heimlich@gmail.com
website: http://medfraud.info
blog: http://the-sidebar.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/medfraud_pmh
bio: http://tinyurl.com/ych7o7dr