Heimlich proposed and described the eponymous “Heimlich maneuver” for what was then called the “café coronary,” a cause of sudden death seen mostly in restaurants, or at the dinner table, most often on those ingesting a very large chunk of steak after a generous amount of alcoholic beverages.

Heimlich described the maneuver as follows: “Standing behind the victim, the rescuer puts both arms around him just above the belt line, allowing head, arms and upper torso to hang forward. Then grasping his right wrist with his left hand, the rescuer rapidly and strongly presses into the victim’s abdomen forcing the diaphragm upward, compressing the lungs and expelling the obstructing bolus.”

Heimlich further described the maneuver in Henry Heimlich, Milton H. Uhley and Frank Netter (llustrator), "The Heimlich maneuver," Clinical Symposia, Ciba, 31, No. 3, 1979.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)