YSK What to do if someone’s choking: Evidence says begin with back blows

Why YSK: > Despite choking being an emergency, until recently there has been limited high-quality evidence to guide bystanders on the most eff…

I had a surreal experience once. I was at a busy, casual restaurant at a booth, sitting across from my wife. There was a lady eating alone at a booth a little way behind my wife, and I noticed she looked kind of distressed - looking around like she was trying to catch a waiter - but she seemed to be getting more panicked looking and her face didn’t look right. I got up and went over and said “Are you chocking?” and she looked at me with big eyes and nodded. I asked if she wanted me to try and help and she said yes and stood up. I never learned how to do the Heimlich except from TV shows, but seemed worth a try, so I did what I remembered, and she coughed up a piece of chicken. She looked really embarrassed and said “Thank you.” I said I was glad to help and went back to my seat. No one in the place noticed a thing except for my wife.
holy shit! pretty calm, glad it was chill, but you totally saved their life!!
Funny, when I sat back down, my wife just calmly said, “Did you just save that woman’s life?” It was weird, we just went back to eating and never really talked about it again except when someone would mention the Heimlich and my wife would tell the story.