The surgeon behind the life-saving Heimlich maneuver, Henry Heimlich, has died at 96 years old early Saturday. Heimlich died of a heart attack at a Cincinnati hospital, according to his son Phil. The late doctor was director of surgery at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati in 1974 when he created the treatment for choking victims. The Heimlich maneuver entails squeezing a victim's abdomen and pushing above the navel to allow a flow of air from the lungs.