Dispatcher Saves Co-Worker With Heimlich

Last Friday, an emergency came to the Lowell (Mass.) public safety comm center, and the dispatchers were ready. Specifically, dispatcher Tara Sheehan was choking on a piece of steak she tried to swallow for lunch at her console, and dispatcher Lori Neville used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the meat and restart breathing. A story in the Lowell Sun newspaper recounts how Sheehan ran from her console to the kitchenette area coughing, trying to remove the meat. Her quick departure drew Neville’s attention, and she quickly realized the seriousness of the situation. Neville previously worked as an ambulance EMT and also received first-aid training as a dispatcher, so she went right to he Heimlich maneuver—it took five thrusts to remove the piece of meat. Sheehan says she can’t possibly say thanks enough. But Neville told the reporter thanks weren’t needed. “Friends are there for each other. That’s what friendship is about.”