Formerly known as “The Heimlich Maneuver,” the technique since re-branded as the Abdominal Thrust saved a life in Bay Shore on Sunday, Feb. 23rd.
A man choking on a piece of food called 911, and two Suffolk County cops out of the Third Precinct responded in swift order. Officers Frank Gigante and Guiseppe Mariano deployed the abdominal thrust, allowing the struggling man to regain the ability to breathe—thereby preventing a most untimely demise.
The Suffolk County Police Department exclaimed in a post on Facebook, “Great job to all who helped!” They also mentioned the Bay Shore Fire Department and Bay Shore Brightwaters Rescue Ambulance teams for their quick responses to the scene.
On the same social media post, various locals weighed in with their thoughts on the feel-good news story of the day.
“Thank you for the rapid response to this and for saving a life,” wrote Toni Pentzel Zambuto. “The fact he got up and went outside and tried to help himself could have had dire consequences had you not gotten there in time! God bless your help!”
Nancy Cronin Dowd seconded this notion. “Outstanding work!! God bless and protect each of you and your families always,” she said before adding two baby blue hearts, two American flags, three hands high-fiving emojis (serving as prayers in this context), and three “eureka” gestures.
Sivan Jen noted that he hopes more regular citizens will take a moment to review the procedure of dislodging an object. “Officers may not be able to get there in time.”
After his death in 2016, the American Red Cross removed Dr. Heimlich’s name from the procedure he developed due to the increasingly controversial nature of his scientifically unsupported reduction of delivering slaps to the black in lieu of his popular alternative.
Nevertheless, we thank all those who joined to bring a man back from the brink of death last week, and all those involved in honing the common upper-airway obstruction remedy utilized that day.