I want to touch on the issue of self improvement through a tough experience today.Today, i was able to save the life of another human being that was choking.

Lets begin,

This morning I was at work with my co-workers. It was a night shift. Anyway, one thing is that ever since i swallowed that pill, i have focused a bit more on self improvement and situation awareness for myself. i constantly observe, rationalize then act accordingly.

Now at our place of work, we are all mandated to take CPR and First Aid courses by default. Thing is, people just view this as a minor inconvenience and stepping stone to the job. Some people actually pay for paper versions of these courses. I paid attention and asked questions.

Incident. We were kinda winding down the job and some drinking coffee. Now there is this one guy that was eating a sandwich dry with no liquids. Now we were all there. The guy I will call Tim, started drooling and tears rolling down his eyes. He was not saying anything and some co workers there started laughing at him and his drooling. I looked in his eyes and realized that ..shit, this guy is choking.

Now if you take lifesaving classes you will quickly learn that a drowning person does not drown like in the movies where they say"help, help! am drowning..!! A person will drown right next to you and you will not realize it unless you know what to look for. They struggle but it is mostly underwater as they cannot keep their body above water. So the surface will have minimal splashing. That is why people drown in a pool full of people and you do not know it.

I refer to this because it was the same thing. I quickly took charge and directed to my coworker "Call 911.. Tim is choking..!!" As i went behind Tim and started performing Heimlich; a procedure we all are supposed to be trained in, i noticed, everyone there just stared. No one was moving. I yelled at the top of my voice..."Call 911.." to my coworker, he did not move.

Heimlich not working, Tim has lost consciousness and goes limp. I put him on the ground. Check for breathing.. gone!! No breathing, his eyes roll back into his head.

I ran to the phone, called 911, shaking, scared.. but decisive. Informed them my address, that someone was choking and i needed to go back and perform CPR. I swear no one had done anything. Tim's mouth was frothing with foam and mucus. He was unconscious. I started CPR. I will be honest, everything was like a blur. I counted compression's aloud and gave 2 rescue breaths among-st that mucus and froth. I could not believe there were 4 other people in the room doing absolutely nothing.

As i continued, CPR, one guy actually had the nerve to tell me.. You are doing it too hard you will hurt him. I mean am sorry for trying to save his life so that he can live to be hurt.

The unexpected then happened. As i made compressions the piece of bread stuck in his throat came out and he gagged and coughed. i put my finger in his mouth and removed it. A fucking lump of bread.

Tim started breathing on his own and i put him in recovery position. Paramedics got there and took over taking him to hospital. They asked me to come with them to walk and talk. One of them told that it is rare to see someone take charge and it does not happen as often as you might think because of the Bystander Effect.

Beta me would probably have stood there with the other guys freaking about what to do. It came second nature to me. I had made it a point to change my life and did not wait for someone else to take the lead.

Tim is fine now.

Lesson's learnt

  • TRP is not a jutsu that will turn you into Chad that bang the chics. It is a way of life that stresses on self improvement. Yes, you will turn into Chad that bangs the chics but that is and should never be the focal point of TRP.

  • learn some basic to intermediate life skills and mentally prepare yourself to use them, I know that in Germany CPR and First Aid are mandatory for all drivers. learn how to camp,swim, lift, basic medical skills, CPR,First Aid, Burns, Electric shock and wound care, learn a language, a skill set, how to make a fire, disaster preparedness, What to do in case of medical emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, diabetic emergencies, What to do in case of a snake bite, emergency food and supplies awareness..etc And teach them to your kids. You never know when in life you might need these skills, how handy they will become and how they could mean the difference between life and death.

Step outside of your former comfort zones and learn something new.