Can You Save a Life With No Medical Training?

Yes, if they know the few simple steps and are willing to use them. The hosts say the standard is not the stranger who jumps onto subway tracks. It is an ordinary person, including their listener Dave, stepping in when someone is in distress. They tell a story from Dr. Rene Ramirez of UCSF Fresno about his son Andrew, an eight-year-old second-grader. At a class party, classmate Mikayla started choking on a gummy bear and pointed at her throat. Andrew did the Heimlich maneuver. The episode's point is that choking is one of a short list of emergencies where a bystander who knows what to do can save a life.