Hopkinton Ham Saves Lives Using Heimlich Maneuver

N1XAN/Heimlich Maneuver demoA Hopkinton ham can be credited with possibly saving the lives of two individuals this month using the well-known Heimlich Maneuver.

According to the Framingham ARA’s Leo Cantin, WA1HAM, George Foster, N1XAN was attending a lunch meeting at a Wayland resturant on March 1, 2004 with a social group. One of his colleagues started to choke and George applied the Heimlich Maneuver, possibly saving her life.

On March 13, 2004 during the lunch break at the License in a Weekend at the Framingham Amateur Radio Association, another person choked in George’s presence; he again applied the Heimlich Maneuver. Both people are going about their business today, thanks to George’s timely and cool-headed assistance.

An army veteran and former Harvard employee, George served as secretary of the Framingham ARA in 2000. N1XAN is also a graduate of FARA’s first License in a Weekend class.

Foster first read how to do the Heimlich Maneuver from an article in the Boston Globe. Although George was never trained for any type of life-saving, he applied what he thought was the correct method for the Heinlich—and it was.

Shown here: N1XAN demonstrating the Heimlich Maneuver

—courtesy WA1HAM and the Framingham ARA

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