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Edited on Fri Jul-11-08 01:36 PM by Hell Hath No Fury
When I was visiting my sister in Texas recently, I was in a restaurant where a woman started to choke. When I got to her was standing just outside the ladies room and a friend was trying to Heimlich her but was having trouble. I quickly asked the questions I was taught in my Red Cross classes -- she indicated she was choking and needed help -- and then stepped behind her to perform the manuever. Since I had those classes I was confident I would be able to help her with no problems.
What I am going to talk about next may make some bristle, but I must be blunt about what I experienced.
The woman I was helping was fairly overweight. When I stepped behind her and put my arms around her waist I was barely able to grasp my hands together in front to form the needed fist -- I was pressed up her as close as I could and was still struggling. She was gasping horribly and I started to panic just a bit. I gave the quick, hard, inward/upward pull that you are supposed to and it was like I was doing it in slow motion -- the resistence was tremendous and I was so close to her I had very little leverage. Then I really started to panic. I'm not normally a praying person, but I did give a little call out to the gods to please give me the strength to help this woman. I did the move again with literally everything I had -- I actually lifted her off her feet I pulled so hard -- and that cleared her airway of the bread chunk that has been lodged there. She caught her breath, thanked me, and then went back to her table.
I woke up the next morning and I was really shaken. All I could think about was how close I came to not being able to help that woman. My Red Cross class had never talked about how to help or what to expect if you are dealing with someone who is overweight, especially in their belly area, as she was. The experience was nothing like what I expected it to be/feel and it's left me with a big question mark about what to do if I have to help someone like that in the future. Heck, my own Mom is someone I would have trouble helping -- something that has never even occurred to me
So, if you are going to take a Red Cross class, ask your instructors about this situation and how you should handle it. If you have taken a class in the past, know that it will be diferent than you expect it to be and think about how you would handle it.
I am seriously thinking about retaking my saftey class to regain my confidence.
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