WOMAN CHOKES ON CANDY

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Lynn Aird
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  A piece of candy robbed a woman of lung-filling air and the ability to call out for help at Vance Air Force Base Dec. 5. Luckily for her, a co-worker stood ready to deliver an early Christmas present ... the gift of life.

Rose Palacios, a 71st Comptroller-Contractor Squadron accounting technician, was working quietly at her desk when she began to choke on a piece of candy.

"At first I thought I could just cough it up out of my throat," she said. "But that didn't work."

As her face turned blue, Palacios staggered from her desk, panicking. Deprived of air and speech, she was unable to respond to the startled inquiries from those around her.

"I've heard about people choking; I've seen stories on TV," she said. "But I could never imagine what it really feels like. It was the scariest moment I have ever experienced."

When co-worker David Gindlesberger saw Palacios in distress, he took action. He jumped up from his chair, ran to her and performed the Heimlich maneuver.

The candy dislodged and flew out of Palacios' throat. She gasped, and then took hungry gulps of air.

A financial analyst, Gindlesberger attributes his swift, life-saving reaction to his active-duty training. Before starting work as a civilian, he retired from a 22-year military career in security forces.

"I knew how to perform the Heimlich maneuver from all my prior military first-aid training," he said. "This is why the military does so much training ... you'll react quickly and remember what to do."

When food becomes lodged in the trachea, it makes breathing impossible. Every year nearly 3,000 people die from accidentally inhaling their food, according 
to the American Red Cross. Thousands more end up in the hospital after nearly choking to death.

Knowing how to extricate food from the windpipe, either when assisting someone or while choking alone, is a valuable skill (see "The Heimlich Maneuver").

Those who witnessed the rescue need no more convincing.

"David is a very humble person and doesn't think his actions were a big deal," said 2nd Lt. Tara Nelson, a financial services officer. "But it is a big deal to save someone's life."

A grateful Palacios would agree.

"I'm thankful Dave was there to help me and knew what to do; otherwise, I probably wouldn't be here now," she said. "It also made me realize how important it is to know what to do in the event that someone is choking. It's literally the difference between life and death."