Early in our lunch break on Feb. 28, 2024 a CO worker sitting across the table from Alex began to choke. Before most of us in the room realized what was happening, our CO worker rose to his feet making gestures with his arms and obviously could not breath. Alex has stood up at the same time as the choking victim. Upon realizing he was not coughing up the obstruction on his own, Alex got behind him and performed the heimlich maneuver. After a few thrusts the victim puked up a bit of his food and began breathing. Within just a few seconds he was able to tell us he was ok. Everyone present in the break room gave Alex a round of applause. It all happened in less than a minute. Had Alex not realized what was going on and acted quickly, I am certain the outcome would have been severe. I’m sure this isn’t the kind of thing normally submitted for “applaud a colleague”, but I felt it was worthy of recognition.
