Rib City Waitress Saves Woman’s Life in Grant

GRANT – A waitress working at Rib City at Grant Station saved a woman’s life after she performs the Heimlich Maneuver.

The incident happened on Sunday when Tara Swiderski, a former flight attendant, heard someone calling her name. She dropped everything after she saw a woman choking.

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Rib City’s surveillance video shows the quick action by Swiderski as she performed the Heimlich Maneuver on the choking customer. In a matter of seconds, the customer waved her arms to let Swiderski know she was okay.

Judy Pozgar, who owns the restaurant, had the waitresses trained on the Heimlich Maneuver four years ago through Space Coast Life Saverz.

“The training is centered on appropriate reaction and response to emergency situations and ensuring an individual is prepared to offer assistance and save a life,” Space Coast Life Saverz said in a statement.

“We offer courses in CPR, AED, First Aid, Heartsaver, Friends and Family, and Healthcare Provider,” the certified training company said.

Rib City also has other servers who are medically trained. One is in nursing school, and the other is a paramedic student.

The Heimlich Maneuver is a procedure for dislodging an obstruction from a person’s windpipe through abdominal thrusts. The term Heimlich maneuver is named after Dr. Henry Heimlich, who first described it in 1974.