Navy medical officers save unconscious woman from choking

Two medical officers of the Navy recently resuscitated an older woman who had lost consciousness after choking on tteok (rice cake), according to the Republic of Korea Navy.

Lt. Lee Jin-ho and Petty Officer Choi Hwan-yeong, were visiting a phone repair center in Seogwipo City in Jeju Island last Wednesday when they found a woman in her 70s lying unconscious across the street. The two men had gotten off their ship to repair their phones after the salvage and rescue vessel Gwangyang of the Navy Sea Salvage and Rescue Unit docked at the southernmost resort island.

The sailors called the 119 emergency service and conducted basic emergency procedures on the patient. They checked for her pulse and initially tried the Heimlich maneuver to remove the tteok from her airway, but it would not budge.

After the 119 emergency workers arrived with the equipment, Lee used the laryngoscope to examine the woman's larynx and remove the stuck rice cake, and conducted endotracheal intubation on her.

"It gives me great joy to be able to save a citizen," Lee was quoted as saying, while Choi vowed, "I will do my best to protect the people and the country in whatever the situation, as a member of the proud Navy."