Sunday, November 4, 2007

Get Certified

When we took our CPR class in September, the instructor mentioned that most of us in the class would see an opportunity to use our skills in the next five years. I thought that seemed a bit unlikely. Well yesterday, as Jeff and I enjoyed a rare lunch without kids, a girl who was (I'm guessing) around 12 began to choke at the very next table. We only noticed when her grandmother started screaming "help her! help her!" We jumped up faster than I even knew possible. The girl's mother, who was sitting beside her in one of those semi-circle booths, was doing her best Heimlick maneuver. After around 8 tries, the food dislodged from the girl's throat. That mom saved her daughter's life right there in front of us.

It was a terrifying experience for US - I can't imagine how the girl and her mom felt. (and her little sister was quite traumatized)
But there was some good that came out of the experience.

• Jeff and I did NOT freeze when the situation presented itself. The CPR class WAS helpful!

By the way, the girl was probably never in grave danger. Even though that food was lodged in there good... there just happened to be a table of five (yes, five) firefighters nearby.

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