Dubai: A man choking on a piece of candy and calling for help was saved by a Sudanese doctor who spotted him while on his way to work in International City.
The man was running on the street frantically signalling towards his face and mouth as he sought help to save him.
The Sudanese doctor, working as a technical adviser at Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, rushed to the aid of the 40-year-old Egyptian man, even though he was not certified and therefore, not allowed by law to perform first aid on anyone.
Speaking to Gulf News about the incident, which took place on June 11, Dr Rashad Qamar said that when he saw the man choking and calling for help, waiting for the ambulance and paramedics to arrive did not seem to be an option, given the circumstances. “I was heading to work when I saw a man running barefoot down the road pointing towards his neck and mouth and unable to speak. He appeared to be choking on a foreign object and was calling for anyone who could help him. It was clear to me he was suffocating and there was no way I could wait for an ambulance to arrive,” said Dr Qamar.
“I stood behind him and performed a first aid manoeuvre by exerting pressure on his abdomen to dislodge the piece of candy from his airway (this is known as the Heimlich Manouevre). The man could have lost his life had we waited for the paramedics to reach the scene,” he said.
Dr Qamar said he hesitated for a second before administering the Heimlich procedure on the man because if anything had gone wrong, he would have gotten into trouble for taking matters into his own hands.
“I spoke to the man [subsequent to him being out of danger] and he told me that he had been up early that morning to get some candy and juice from the supermarket. While walking back to his building chewing on the candy, a big piece got stuck in his windpipe and he had no clue what to do or how to save himself.”
Apparently, it was not the first time the man had experienced this kind of a problem, said Dr Qamar. “I advised him to go for medical consultation because it could happen again.”
Speaking about his own predicament in the light of this case, Dr Qamar said he hopes that there will be more certified first-aid volunteers in the field, considering that incidents of this nature could occur with anyone, anytime and anywhere.
“I’ve been trained in first-aid, but by law, I’m not allowed to administer it as I am not certified to do so.”
He said the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services is ready to be involved and provide the best training. “This way, we will have thousands of first-aid volunteers from the community available to help others at any time.”
