Rand Paul Saved a Fellow Senator with the Heimlich Maneuver — Here’s a Reminder on How to Do It

When Senator Joni Ernst, R-IA, started choking during a policy luncheon on Thursday, Senator Rand Paul, M.D., R-KY, was quick to aid her.

Paul quickly performed the Heimlich maneuver on Ernst, who is said to have choked on a piece of meat. Thanks to Paul’s efforts, Ernst was able to cough up the food that had gotten stuck in her airway and resume her day as normal.

After the incident, Ernst said that she was choking “on the woke policies Dems are forcing down our throats” on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Rhetoric aside, thousands of people die from choking each year. It is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury death, and a large percentage of people who die from choking are elderly and live alone.

Rand Paul is a physician who specializes in ophthalmology and diagnoses and treats eye disorders. But you don’t have to be a medical doctor to be able to effectively perform the Heimlich — it’s a vital life-saving skill that anyone can do and everyone could benefit from knowing.

That said, here are some quick tips on how to render aid to someone who is choking:

Start fast. When someone is choking, it is imperative to try to dislodge the item blocking their airway as quickly as possible. The person may grab their throat, signal that they are having trouble breathing, or their skin and lips might start to turn blue or gray. In these cases, someone should provide aid immediately. However, if they are able to cough heavily, let them. This may dislodge the item.

If you can see the item, try to remove it with your fingers. However, if you can’t see it, do not attempt to remove it because that can cause the object to go deeper into the throat making it more difficult to get it out.

If they are unable to cough up the item, the American Red Cross recommends to first start with five blows to their back. This involves standing beside and slightly behind the person choking, having them bend forward at the waist and forcefully striking them between their shoulder blades five times with the heel of your hand.

The Heimlich maneuver should be tried when back blows don’t dislodge the object. To perform the Heimlich, stand behind the person who is choking and bend them slightly forward at the waist. Wrap your arms around their waist, making a fist with one hand and placing it just above their belly button. With the other hand, grab your fist and quickly tighten your arms around their abdomen and toward yourself in a powerful upward thrust — this might lift their feet off the ground slightly.

The American Red Cross recommends repeating this until the item is dislodged or until emergency personnel have arrived.

In children, these moves should be much more gentle to prevent damaging their internal organs.

Of course, if the situation seems dire, call 911.

Rand Paul Saved a Fellow Senator with the Heimlich Maneuver — Here’s a Reminder on How to Do It

Thursday’s incident illustrates the importance of knowing how to help someone who is choking