Learn the Heimlich and make no bones about it

Seems there's no such thing as a (bone) free lunch. A colleague of ours was a few bites into her chicken salad the other day when she swallowed a bone more than an inch long. A couple of fast-acting diners performed Heimlich maneuvers, but the bone was too wedged into the soft tissue of her throat to be forced out. An ambulance ride and some surgery later, our coworker is on the mend. But it got us thinking.

We wondered whether there's any requirement that restaurant workers be trained how to do the Heimlich maneuver. Turns out it's a state-by-state call, and finding out which states have requirements proved to be somewhat difficult. In 2004, Connecticut did a thorough review of existing laws and found that 14 states had something on the books specifically relating to providing aid to choking victims.

In many of those, the state required that signs be posted in eateries showing how to correctly perform the Heimlich maneuver. In several cases, the law also provides some immunity from liability for any Good Samaritan who tries to help.

At the time of the Connecticut report, only Oregon required certain restaurant staff to be trained to give aid to choking victims. Connecticut enacted its own regulations in 2005 stating that each food establishment "train employees to recognize the signs of choking and to have on its premises during business hours at least one employee trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the Heimlich maneuver."

Choking on food can happen to anyone as Joan Nathan, author of "New American Cooking," wrote recently in the New York Times. Nathan choked on a piece of chicken at a party she was hosting. One of the guests, Tom Colicchio, owner of the Craft restaurants and judge on the television show "Top Chef," successfully performed the Heimlich on Nathan. "Actually learning the technique should be mandatory for the staff both in kitchens and in the front of restaurants," Nathan wrote after the incident.

MedlinePlus, published by the National Institutes of Health, illustrates how to perform the maneuver. If you have a child under the age of one, however, talk to your pediatrician about what to do should a choking emergency occur.