by Ellen Carroll on March 6, 2009 (photo by billselak, available under a CC license)

CPR, Heimlich Maneuver

With two boys running around my house, there is rarely a moment when someone doesn’t have something in their mouth that they shouldn’t. With that in mind, I am on constant mouth patrol- snatching batteries and Legos before they even reach my babies’ lips. You might say I’m a regular choke prevention specialist. Having said that, I never dreamed there might be a time when I might actually need to know how to save someone who was choking. I always functioned on the thought that prevention is the answer and never allowed myself to think beyond the walls of my own home.

One evening a few weeks back, I experienced the scariest moment of my adult life. I was just about to start my evening ritual- a bubble bath and a book after the kids were finally asleep. Just as I turned the water on, I thought I heard someone at my door. When I got halfway down the hall, I heard someone crying outside. I ran to the door and heard someone knocking and crying hysterically outside. I flung it open to see four little girls standing on my porch, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. When they saw me, they told me that their baby brother was downstairs choking, they needed help right away.

I rushed downstairs, thinking the whole time, “What if I can’t save him?” By the time I got to their apartment I was shaking violently and so afraid of what I would find. Fortunately, by the time I was downstairs the baby’s mother had dislodged the piece of banana he had been choking on. After hugging everyone I saw and squeezing that baby for good measure, I made my way back to my apartment. Every step felt heavier, I couldn’t stop thinking about that little baby.

I went into my apartment and snuck into my sons’ room. I kissed them both and went back to my bathroom and cried. My husband is a police officer and is trained in all sorts of life-saving techniques. I think I always expected him to take over in a life threatening situation. I never thought about (or planned for) the case if he wasn’t available.

The world got a bit bigger for me that night. I had, of course, always known and liked my neighbors, but never dreamed that I would someday be asked to save one of their lives. The next morning when my husband came home from work, I retold the evening’s events and asked him to show me how to perform CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. (I didn’t even know that there were different ways to do it, depending on the age of the person needing it.) He very patiently walked me through them all and listened quietly, knowing all too well the horrible feeling associated with the fear of lost life.

With that in mind, I’m issuing a challeng to all Metroglow readers. If you don’t know how to successfully use the Heimlich Maneuver or CPR, go learn it now! Oklahoma City has a large number of free CPR classes available for area residents. Check online or contact your local fire or police station to get a current schedule of available classes. Do it for yourself and your family, and for people you don’t even know.  Their lives may depend on you. After all, you never know who’s knocking.

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