3 - Wednesday, January 1, 1986 - North Shore News

Taking time to save lives

SAFETY COURSE AIMED
AT LOCAL RESTAURANTS

FOOD can be fatal.

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW

Carelessly swallowed, it is
one of the major causes of
obstructed breathing airways
and ‘cafe coronaries’.

North Vancouver
firefighter Doug Potter
recently combined his traia-
ed reactions with his know!l-
edge of clearing obstructed
airways to save the life of a
50-year-old woman.

Potter was enjoying a few
off-duty beers in North
Vancouver's Rusty Gull pub
when! a woman. collapsed
while eating food.

A #1

Though he found no large
chunks of food in’ the
woman's throat. Potter said
he removed existing debris
from her windpipe and initi-
ated mouth-to-mouch
resuscitation until am-
bulance crews arrived, by
which time she was in full
cardiac arrest.

WOMAN UNCONSCIOUS

Who is now
Lions Gate

The woman,
improving in
Hospital, had reportedly
been unconscious for ap-
proximately five ininutes be-
fore Potter was alerted to
her condition by pub patrons

BABY

CLINTON Chaloner has big plans for New Year's Day. The
North Van resident is celebrating his first birthday. Clin-
ton was the North Shore's first baby of 1985 when he was
born at 3 p.m, last Jan. 1 at Lions Gate Hospital to Stan

and Lois Chaloner.

COVER PHOTO

WAVES of fog disguise the view of Vancouver nor-
mally geen from the Cypress Park Road look-out. The

setting

sui puts 4 golden glow on the landscape as 1985

we [ ‘Tolls toa close. Cover photo i is by Inn Smith.

‘

unsure of what to do in the
situation.

The episode graphically
underlines ue need for
public awareness of the
speed and finality with
which choking can. strike,
says North Vancouver City
firefighter Paul Bouchard.

In order to spread that
awareness, Bouchard is
spearheading a new pro-
gram, offered in conjunction
with the St. John Am-
bulance  arganization, to
educate North Shore restau-
rant personnel in how to
recognize choking symptoms
and how to clear blocked
airways.

He quoted statistics com-
piled by St. John Ambulance
that state ‘tevery person will
either witness an obtructed
airway or be a victim of
one.”

CUSTOMERS PANIC

Explaining the term ‘cafe
coronary’, Bouchard — said
people in restaurants panic
when their windpipes
become suddenly clogged
with food. But rather than
transgress the rules of  eti-
quette and make public
spectacles of themselves,
they escape to washrooms
where they dic. breathlessly
clawing actheir throats.

St. John Ambulance train-
ing supervisor David White
explained that, meat is the
food most likely to’ cause
choking deaths. in restau-
rants and denture wearers
are the most common vic-
tims, He. added’ that most
choking victims ‘are’ intox-
icated.

The importance.
educating the public,
especially .those -in the
hospitality industry, can not
be overemphasized, White
said.

‘

TRAINED STAFF

“From a publicity point

of view alone, ‘if a restau-
rant's staff is trained to deal

with obstructed ‘airways, its

reflects well on, that restau-

rant and makes..it a more
place’ to.

desirable
patronize,’ White said.

Apart from providing
people’ with’.the sibility’ to
save. lives, airway .ubstruc-
tion removal, techniques ‘also
provide people with the abil:
ity to act.

“Even if i, were not suc

cessful,” White said, “to
have done something’, and
failed is far better than to
have watched helplessly
while someone dies, kiowing
that maybe you could have
saved a life if /you had
known what to do!"
' Bouchard said he sent out
12 letters to North Van-
couver restaurants inviting
management to’ enrol their
various staffs in the fire
department's © obstruction
removal course, He received
a single response.

“Pothink that’s
especially considering
course is free."

Bouchard gave his first
obstructed airways course at
Benningion's restaurant on
Dec. 17.

terrible,
the

o7th year of service to tens of
thousands of domestic & foreign car &
light truck owners

.C.B.C. vendor BCAA approved A.R.A. certified
Quality workmanship — Trustworthy service

+74 Pemberton Ave, N. Van

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of.

ar LM .

NEWS photo lan Smith
BENNINGTON'S restaurant employees Richard Lewis, sitting,”
and Kraig Short were given a recent lesson on-how to save a
life. North Vancouver City firefighter Grant Frost gave a
short course on how to clear a blocked air passage to restore
normal breathing. it

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