We went to lunch with the kid and his husband today, as is our wont on Fridays, and Dr Skull choked on a bite of chicken. I looked up and saw his desperate expression and how he was grabbing at his chest and throat. "Are you all right?" I said, and then more alarmed, "Are you choking?"
He did not answer, just looked more desperate.
I jumped up. "He's choking!" I shouted at the restaurant. "Who knows the Heimlich?"
I looked wildly at the waiter, who backed away looking terrified. "I don't know it!" he said.
"Who knows the Heimlich?" I yelled louder. "He's choking!"
A woman got up. "I do. Move out of the way."
"Move!" I said. That was my contribution. Everyone scattered from her path.
She had to do it several times before he had choked up everything -- there was vomit involved, if you've never seen it done -- first while he was sitting and then getting him to stand up. It took like five minutes. It was absolutely terrifying, for me, though also for him.
When we were finally sitting down and he had cold compresses all over him -- that was also the woman's suggestion, since apparently choking makes your body heat go up -- I saw that the entire restaurant had cleared out. We all thanked the woman about a billion times. I forgot to get her name.
Anyway, I'm signing up for a CPR/Choking class, which is given by the city.
Aside from the time the kid, at about eight months old, choked on a pistachio, this was the most terrifying five minutes of my life.
Don't worry, I left a big tip.
7 comments:
We used to have to practice on dummies as part of swimming lessons at the YMCA— a very simple procedure to learn. Really everyone should know it. I believe first aid classes also cover it though I may be misremembering.
Also very glad he is ok! How frightening!
It was terrifying.
Horrifying. I had a student who passed out and stopped breathing as she was leaving my classroom, but fortunately another student in the class had trained as a lifeguard and knew what to do. After that, the College offered training for anyone who wanted to learn CPR, and a bunch of us took the class. We also learned the Heimlich maneuver. I hope I never have to use it, and I hope I never have to see a loved one in that kind of distress. Sorry you had to go through that.
I'm just glad someone who knew it was there. Wish my school had run that workshop, instead of the endless yoga!
Scary! I took a refresher class when my youngest was a baby, and had to throat-sweep her once when she choked.
Mine choked on a pistachio, as I mentioned, but I knew how to do the baby Heimlich, so I knocked it loose. It was terrifying!
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