Heimlich Maneuver

I empathize with Al Delugach's wife, choking in the restaurant ("Choking Not a False Alarm This Time," Other Views, Feb. 18). The same thing happened to me. While my friends were asking frantically for the paramedics, employees were passing by and ignoring me completely. Finally, after another customer had performed the Heimlich maneuver and I was all right, someone came and asked if I was all right, or if I still needed help. JACKIE WILLIAMS Huntington Park

As an offensive lineman for Oregon, Mark Asper usually does his work out of the spotlight. But the senior from Idaho made a huge pre-Rose Bowl play Wednesday night during the Ducks' trip to Lawry's the Prime Rib in Beverly Hills for their turn at the annual "Beef Bowl. " During the meal, Asper said he noticed a commotion at a table near his. A man, he said, "was giving the universal 'Help me, I'm choking' signal.' " The 6-foot-7, 325-pound Asper said another man attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver but was unsuccessful.

The woman on the telephone was distraught, but a sheriff's deputy managed to calm her and instruct her how to perform the lifesaving Heimlich maneuver--on her puppy. The conversation saved the dog, which was choking on a chicken bone, authorities said today. Anna Mora, 33, of 7731 Lynalan Ave. in an unincorporated area near Whittier, called the Pico Rivera sheriff's station shortly before 4 p.m. Monday and told Deputy James Stroud that her puppy was choking.

A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honored as a hero. Willie, a Quaker parrot, was given the Denver Red Cross chapter's Animal Lifesaver Award last week. In November, Willie's owner, Megan Howard, was baby-sitting a toddler, Hannah. Howard left the room and the little girl started to choke on her breakfast. Willie repeatedly yelled "Mama, baby" and flapped his wings until Howard returned to find Hannah turning blue.

Budget Director James C. Miller III was on the program as the luncheon speaker, but he jumped into action as an amateur paramedic when a waiter who appeared to be choking fell to the floor. Miller administered the Heimlich maneuver, a means of expelling trapped food by sharply squeezing the victim beneath the rib cage, Miller's spokesman, Edwin Dale, confirmed Tuesday.

Sen. Chic Hecht (R-Nev.) today gave his "everlasting thanks" to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who put aside political partisanship long enough to successfully administer the Heimlich maneuver when the Republican was choking on a piece of apple. Kerry had stepped off a Capitol elevator Tuesday when he saw Hecht staggering in the hallway. Kerry administered the Heimlich maneuver, and on his second attempt the piece of apple was dislodged from Hecht's windpipe.

Muffie the cocker spaniel is lucky her teen-age master improvised a doggie Heimlich maneuver. "I learned it at school, but they didn't say anything about using it on a dog," Justin Weigel said. Donna Weigel, Justin's mother, said she called her son after noticing the dog couldn't breathe on New Year's Day. "Muff just ran up to me and sat down," Justin said. "It was almost like she knew we could do something to help."

As 12-year-old heroines go, Adrienne Costanzo is remarkably serene and unassuming. The Fleming Junior High School seventh-grader, who has never taken an emergency training course in her life, is credited with using the Heimlich maneuver to save the life of her 4-year-old friend, Chelsea Segal, when grown-ups around her failed to notice the child choking. The incident took place recently at a barbecue at Chelsea's home in San Pedro.

The famous guests made their way through the rain into the warmth of Joanne Carson's candle-lit Bel-Air home. Just beyond the door, they found a small registration table. Esther Williams, Patti Davis, Jon Voight, Bruce Davison and other luminaries dutifully signed in. The guest of honor--a tall intense-looking man in his 70s--waited in the kitchen. Everyone had heard about him, but few had met him. As they filed by to shake his hand, Dr. Henry Heimlich nodded and smiled. "Thanks for coming.

A woman saved her puppy from choking to death on a chicken bone by following a deputy's instructions on performing the Heimlich maneuver, sheriff's officials said. Anna Mora of the Whittier area called the 911 emergency number Monday when her puppy started choking, said Lt. William Lewis of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department "Deputy James Stroud gave the woman instructions for the Heimlich maneuver and she was able to dislodge the bone," Lewis said. "She and the dog are fine."

It was messy. It was ugly. If you listened closely, you could hear grunting and choking and wheezing. Swallowing mistakes is not for the faint of heart or timid of spirit. Frank McCourt proved to be neither Saturday, swallowing a whopper that made him look bad, but will eventually make the Dodgers look good. And that makes it a gulp worth taking.

The doctor and the lifeguard are each convinced the other is spouting life-threatening nonsense. At issue is how best to save the life of someone pulled unconscious from the water. For 40 years the preferred protocol has been cardiopulmonary resuscitation, including mouth-to-mouth breathing and chest compressions. The doctor is Henry J. Heimlich, 80, the Cincinnati thoracic surgeon who developed a much-acclaimed method for saving choking victims.

After a recent evening spent sipping cocktails with L.A.'s charming British consul, I couldn't imagine my life getting any more glam. But then, last week, it happened. A famous man rolled into town--a man nearly all of you have heard of. I met him in a restaurant. He stood behind me. Put his arms around me. Then he clenched his fist and shoved it into my gut. I'm sure, if I'd had a piece of steak stuck in my windpipe, it would have flown clear across the room. My mystery man?

Somewhere deep inside aspiring screenwriter Paul Chepikian's compact body lurks a doctor just aching to reach out and save people from breathtaking emergencies. Just ask the popcorn lady. The 42-year-old Chepikian was attending a Hollywood Bowl concert last month when a Van Nuys woman sitting behind him began choking on a piece of popcorn. As concert-goers watched aghast, Chepikian calmly leaped over his seat and used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the popped kernel.

The new year rang in on a happy note for Los Angeles County Fire Dispatcher Eddie Pickett after he helped a 13-year-old baby-sitter save her 4-year-old cousin from choking. At 7:13 p.m., the preschooler's 11-year-old brother called 911 because she was choking on a piece of chicken. Pickett asked him to put the teen-ager on the phone because he thought she would be better able to handle the situation.

The famous guests made their way through the rain into the warmth of Joanne Carson's candle-lit Bel-Air home. Just beyond the door, they found a small registration table. Esther Williams, Patti Davis, Jon Voight, Bruce Davison and other luminaries dutifully signed in. The guest of honor--a tall intense-looking man in his 70s--waited in the kitchen. Everyone had heard about him, but few had met him. As they filed by to shake his hand, Dr. Henry Heimlich nodded and smiled. "Thanks for coming.

A woman saved her puppy from choking to death on a chicken bone by following a deputy's instructions on performing the Heimlich maneuver, sheriff's officials said. Anna Mora of the Whittier area called the 911 emergency number Monday when her puppy started choking, said Lt. William Lewis of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department "Deputy James Stroud gave the woman instructions for the Heimlich maneuver and she was able to dislodge the bone," Lewis said. "She and the dog are fine."

The woman on the telephone was distraught, but a sheriff's deputy managed to calm her and instruct her how to perform the lifesaving Heimlich maneuver--on her puppy. The conversation saved the dog, which was choking on a chicken bone, authorities said today. Anna Mora, 33, of 7731 Lynalan Ave. in an unincorporated area near Whittier, called the Pico Rivera sheriff's station shortly before 4 p.m. Monday and told Deputy James Stroud that her puppy was choking.