An employee at Loyola University Medical Center is being recognized for saving the life of an emergency room doctor. Dr. Joan Dimopoulos was eating a chicken sandwich in the hospital cafeteria when she began to choke, and cashier Ketzly Angel quickly performed the Heimlich maneuver. Earlier this week, the doc thanked her with a bouquet of flowers in gratitude for her quick action.
Angel says she had learned the Heimlich maneuver as a student in high school but had never performed it before. “From my high school class, health class, I remember what they had told us,” she explains, “So, I always kept it in mind in case of a situation like that.” She noticed the doctor clutching her chest and immediately got up to help when other bystanders weren’t sure what to do.
“There were a lot of people around, but she’s the one who jumped up and helped me right away,” Dr. Dimopoulos recalls. “Her knowledge of knowing what to do and then the courage to really do it for somebody that you don’t know, and that she did that for me, and I just want to tell her thank you.” Dr. Dimopoulos is also encouraging others to learn the Heimlich maneuver so they can be prepared to act in a crisis.
Source: CBS NEWS
photo: GETTY
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