Fitness Files: Rescue shows importance of first aid

We couldn’t join our friends, Julie and Scott, for dinner before the theater, so we agreed to rendezvous at the show.

They arrived breathless. They’d just saved a life.

Here is the story: Julie and Scott had just ordered margaritas when they heard the cry for a “doctor in the house!”

Julie, a registered nurse, and Scott, a doctor, answered the call and found a woman lying on the floor. Bending down, Julie observed that the woman’s eyes were fixed, pupils dilated.

“This is one for the doctor,” Julie thought as Scott felt for a pulse on the carotid artery but could find none. He noted a foamy food residue coming out of the woman’s mouth.

A longtime lifeguard, Julie helped Scott turn the woman to her side. “She felt rigid.” Julie said.

“She was gray,” Scott told us, describing the scene later. “I tried to find out what happened, but the family was hysterical.”

A family member had been giving CPR, but Julie said, “He was too low, toward the belly and pushing upwards.”

“Please stop,” Julie commanded, then asked, “Has someone called 911?” “Yes,” was the reply.

Instantly, Scott formed a “U” shape with his fingers and cleared the woman’s airway. He scooped food out, releasing a great deal of liquid with it.

Scott’s intuition told him he needed to perform the Heimlich maneuver, but he could not sit the woman up, so he performed a modified Heimlich, pressing on the diaphragm with a sequence of push-and-rest, push-and-rest. A large quantity of food flowed from the airway. The woman coughed three times and then started to breathe.

“Color returned to her face rapidly,” Scott told us.

Paramedics arrived, and Scott and Julie backed away.

Over yogurt after the play, we discussed the way to react in an emergency.

Scott and Julie agreed that calling 911 was the necessary first move. Paramedics are trained to respond to emergencies in ways that the average person, or even a doctor without tools, can’t. Also, emergency personnel give specific directions over the phone to assist those helping a patient while paramedics are on the way.

Julie and Scott made it a point not to fault the man’s relatives.

“There was chaos,” Scott said.

Besides, added Julie, the greatest percentage of the time, heart attack is the problem.

Giving you the steps to the Heimlich would be insufficient. The complex judgments needed to respond in the confusion of an emergency are more likely to be learned if one takes a class and hears the directions, sees the demonstration and practices lifesaving techniques.

So I encourage people to sign up for a first-aid class. In my Aug. 15 column, I named locations for first-aid classes. You can also type “first aid class” and your city in a search engine.

The restaurant served Julie and Scott margaritas and guacamole on the house. The couple found the calmness and appetite to polish off the gratis treats and enjoy the theater later.

They’re hardier people than I am. Guess that’s why they’re medical professionals and I’m not, but I’m signed up for first aid — the best step I can take.

Newport Beach resident CARRIE LUGER SLAYBACK is a retired teacher who ran the Los Angeles Marathon at age 70, winning first place in her age group. Her blog is [email protected].