POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue paramedic is being called a hero after his quick thinking saved a tourist who was choking on her meal at a Pompano Beach restaurant.
Diane Thomas said she has BSFR Lt. Chris Florea to thank for coming to her rescue.
“He pretty much saved my life,” she said during a phone interview with 7News.
Thomas was having dinner at Bobby Rubino’s while visiting family in South Florida, Thursday night.
“I was eating a filet mignon, the most tender piece of meat that there is,” she said, “and the next thing I knew, I was choking, and I couldn’t breathe.”
Thankfully, Florea was having dinner at the same restaurant and was within earshot of the victim.
Being a paramedic, Florea said, he’s always aware of his surroundings, so when the woman sitting next to him in the dining room stopped talking mid-sentence, he knew something was wrong.
“That kind of caught my attention. I looked over at her, and she was coughing pretty good,” said Florea.
Thomas’ son was trying to help but didn’t know what to do.
“I announced that I was a paramedic and asked if he needed assistance, and the desperation in his voice, I mean, he was like, ‘Yes, please help me,'” said Florea.
The paramedic then rushed to Thomas’ table.
“I got in there, and I did the Heimlich maneuver. On the fourth thrust of her stomach, she coughed up some material,” said Florea.
After all the commotion was over, Florea and Thomas posed for a picture.
Florea said everyone should know how to administer the Heimlich maneuver.
“It could have turned out badly if someone wasn’t there that was trained,” he said.
As for Thomas, she said she will be signing up for a course as soon as she gets back home.
“I am going to do it as soon as I get home,” she said. “God forbid one of my grandchildren are choking on something, and I wouldn’t know what to do.”
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