June 15, 2015

Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison

President of The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
1333 S. Kirkwood Road
St. Louis, MO 63122-7226
Dear Rev. Harrison:
According to the website of the Cincinnati-based American Heritage Girls (AHG):
On May 14, 2014, the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) extended a Memorandum of
Understanding to American Heritage Girls (AHG). According to the MOU, AHG will partner
with the local LCMS church to "assist and support girls through spiritual development, life skill
enhancement, development of teamwork, social skills, girl leadership skills while building
confidence and discovering their identity in Christ."
Based on the following information, AHG appears to be circulating an unapproved, experimental,
potentially-harmful medical treatment: performing the Heimlich maneuver (abdominal thrusts) on
unconscious choking victims.
This is to request that you review the information and provide me with a determination whether AHG
is in compliance with church standards.
Per Heimlich maneuver on unconscious persons causes controversy a news report by Nick Kammerer,
Rambler Newspapers (Irvine, TX), November 24, 2014
(The) American Heart Association and the American Red Cross, do not recommend using the
Heimlich maneuver on unconscious patients...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.
Via a January 6, 2015 e-mail to me from Eric Perez MD, an emergency medicine expert in New York
City who reviews medical treatment information for the National Institutes of Health:
To my knowledge, there is no definitive evidence for or against performing abdominal thrusts
(on an) unconscious patient.
Further, the treatment has apparently never been the subject of a published research study, therefore
it's experimental.
At time stamp 2:45 of the Teacher/Leader training video published on the Heimlich Heroes web site
and on YouTube.com, students are instructed to perform the Heimlich maneuver on unconscious
choking victims. (Click here for a video clip of the segment posted on my YouTube.com account.)
Per a March 17, 2014 press release issued by AHG:
Cincinnati-based American Heritage Girls (AHG), an international faith-based characterdevelopment program for girls ages 5 through 18, has joined with Heimlich Heroes to teach its
members how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver when a person chokes on food or a small
object. The training will be available free to all AHG troops nationwide.
Presumably the training includes the unconscious Heimlich protocol. 1
1 It's unclear if members or troop leaders are made aware that the treatment is unapproved and experimental.

According to this May 29, 2015 post published on the Heimlich Heroes Facebook page, since January
2014, AHG has trained over 3200 girls with the Heimlich Heroes training program, presumably
including the unconscious Heimlich protocol.

Since the AHG/Heimlich Heroes partnership was announced last year, I've made multiple courteous
inquiries to AHG representatives (including founder and executive director Patti Garibay) requesting
clarification and a position statement on the subject. Most recently I e-mailed and faxed the attached
June 4, 2015 inquiry AHG spokesperson Jennifer Troutman.
Although I've obtained multiple confirmations of receipt, I've never received any response, therefore it
appears AHG is unwilling to address the subject.
Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,

Peter M. Heimlich
3630 River Hollow Run
Peachtree Corners, GA 30096
ph: (208)474-7283
website: http://medfraud.info
blog: http://the-sidebar.com
e-mail: peter.heimlich@gmail.com

Subject: blogger inquiry -- 2nd & final request

From: Peter Heimlich <peter.heimlich@gmail.com>
Date: 6/4/2015 9:06 PM
To: news@ahgonline.org
Sent via e-mail and faxed to (513)771-2595
Jennifer Troutman
American Heritage Girls
175 Tri-County Parkway, suite 100
Cincinnati, OH 45246
Dear Ms. Troutman,
I left you a voice message yesterday requesting a callback or a reply e-mail for an item I'm reporting
regarding Cincinnati's Heimlich Heroes program which from all appearances has taught thousands of your
members to perform the Heimlich maneuver on unconscious choking victims, a treatment reportedly
unapproved by the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association:
http://ramblernewspapers.com/2014/11/heimlich-maneuver-on-unconscious-persons-causescontroversy/
Also, per my voice message, as I recently reported on my blog, after I brought concerns about the treatment
to the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health -- there's apparently no research
supporting the treatment, therefore it's experimental -- the NLM/NIH changed their website:
http://www.the-sidebar.com/2015/04/two-days-after-my-investigation-request.html
In addition to the item I'm blogging, since your organization may be using its members to circulate and test
an experimental, potentially-harmful medical treatment, I'm preparing a letter of concern to the Internal
Revenue Service regarding your organization's tax-free status, and similar letters of concern to the Better
Business Bureau and to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Therefore, I'd appreciate some
indication whether or not your organization intends to comment and/or to clarify its position regarding this
matter.
If you intend to respond, please do so by end of the day, Wednesday, June 10, 2015. If I don't receive any
communications from you, I'll assume your organization does not intend to respond. If you require more
time, please advise and I'll do my best to accommodate.
Thanks for your continued attention and I hope to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Peter M. Heimlich
Atlanta
ph: (208)474-7283
website: http://medfraud.info
blog: http://the-sidebar.com
e-mail: peter.heimlich@gmail.com

Subject: Your fax to Jennifer Troutman has succeeded

From: FaxZero.com<support@faxzero.com>
Date: 6/4/2015 9:16 PM
To: Peter M. Heimlich <peter.heimlich@gmail.com>

Dear Peter M. Heimlich,

Your fax to Jennifer Troutman at 5137712595 has been sent successfully!
Successful delivery of your fax was confirmed at 9:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time on June 4th, 2015.
Your fax included 1 page of coversheet with your text and 1 page of attached documents.
Thank you,
FaxZero.com
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Subject: Read: blogger inquiry -- 2nd & final request

From: Jody Token <news@ahgonline.org>
Date: 6/8/2015 11:34 AM
To: Peter Heimlich <peter.heimlich@gmail.com>
Your message
To: Jody Token
Subject: blogger inquiry -- 2nd & final request
Sent: Thursday, June 4, 2015 8:06:37 PM (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
was read on Monday, June 8, 2015 10:34:22 AM (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada).

Final-recipient: RFC822; news@ahgonline.org

Disposition: automatic-action/MDN-sent-automatically; displayed
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