Rand Paul saves fellow US senator with Heimlich manoeuvre
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Rand Paul saved a fellow US senator with the Heimlich manoeuvre at a lunch on Thursday, it has emerged.
The Kentucky senator came to the aid of Joni Ernst, a Republican senator from Iowa, who was choking on her lunch.
Ms Ernst thanked Mr Paul, who is an eye doctor, for his swift intervention.
“Can’t help but choke on the woke policies Dems [Democrats] are forcing down our throats,” the Senator wrote on Twitter. “Thanks, Dr Rand Paul!”.
The Heimlich manoeuvre is a lifesaving technique practised around the world, and is often used when a patient is choking on food or other objects, and their airway is obstructed.
Mr Paul was called a “hero” by Utah senator Mike Lee, who had also attended the Senate event for Republican colleagues where the incident took place. NBC reported that Ms Ernst had provided the food for the lunch, as part of a tradition that senators bring food from their respective states.
John Thune, who holds the position of Senate Republican whip, told the outlet: “It was Iowa day – lots of big pork chops and beef sandwiches.”
North Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, who often clashes with Mr Paul, thanked him for his fast actions. “God bless Rand Paul,” Mr Graham told NBC. “I never thought I’d say that.”
It is not the first time the technique has been used during a Senate luncheon. In 2018, Democratic senator Joe Manchin cracked the rib of Claire McCaskill, then a Democratic senator for Missouri, while performing the Heimlich manoeuvre on her when she began choking.
The ground-breaking technique was devised by the late Dr Henry Heimlich. In 2003, the doctor described the first time he used the technique while having lunch: “I was in this club restaurant eating when I heard someone calling Dr Heimlich. I turned around and saw a man choking so I did the Heimlich Manoeuvre and got it out and then went on and had my lunch.
“Everybody in the world knows about the Heimlich Manoeuvre and it is in all the dictionaries. It is very gratifying to me. I have been in China, Africa and England and everyone knows about it. They all say to me ‘are you Dr Heimlich of the Heimlich Manoeuvre?’ They will say to me ‘you saved my child’.”
