Laguna Niguel, CA -
(FOX 11) Looking at Janet Williams you would never know the life threatening ordeal she had been through hours earlier.
Williams was saved by her daughters Gina and Julie after they called a level-headed 911 dispatcher. Williams suddenly started choking on a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows Sunday night.
"The harder I tried to breathe in, the harder it was to breathe," Williams said.
Neither sister knew the Heimlich maneuver so, David Paschke, a senior operator with Orange County Fire Authority's 911 Dispatch Center, in Irvine talked her through it.
"We jumped right in to calming end scene down so I could start giving instructions," Paschke said
Below is an excerpt between Dispatcher Paschke and William's daughter Gina:
Dispatcher: Listen to me Gina, okay? I want you to stand behind your mom.
Gina: Yeah, I'm behind her.
Dispatcher: Wrapping your arms around her waist.
Gina: K.
Dispatcher: Make a fist with your hand, put the thumb-side of your fist against the stomach above the belly button. Tell me when you're ready.
Gina: Okay!
Dispatcher: With your other hand grab your fist.
Gina: Yeah...
Dispatcher: Quickly jerk inward and upward, do it now!
Janet can be heard heaving in the background. She says both her daughters tried giving her the Heimlich, but we're having difficulties getting it right. Janet, who's also a nurse, tried throwing herself over the back of a chair to get the marshmallows out.
It didn't happen right away, but eventually Janet was able to breathe again.
Dispatcher: Has it come out yet? Is she breathing yet?
Gina: Wait a minute, wait a minute! She can breath a little bit!
Dispatcher: Okay then stop, okay. Is she breathing now?
Gina: Okay? Yes. She's talking to me.
"Thank God we had the right help. [The dispatcher] was calm and reassuring and I thought as long as he was on the line I was going to get help," Williams said.
Dispatcher says learning the Heimlich Maneuver and CPR are very important, especially during the hockey season.
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