Waiter Saves Choking Woman At Bridgehampton Restaurant

Between the hustle and bustle of a typical Lobster Night at Bobby Van’s, veteran waiter Zakaria Chami initially thought his fellow staffers were joking when they said a woman was choking in the Bridgehampton restaurant on a recent evening.

But when his floor manager, Kristen Regan, said the same thing, Mr. Chami, a Hampton Bays resident, left his section, which was filled to capacity with patrons, to help. The woman was quickly turning blue and sitting limp in her chair.

Using the Heimlich maneuver, Mr. Chami was able to thrust loose a piece of steak lodged in the woman’s throat, allowing her to take her first deep breath in what must have seemed like a very long time.

The situation, while stressful, was nothing new for Mr. Chami—he has performed the lifesaving maneuver five previous times while working at the restaurant over the past 17 years.

And while many people would have taken a few minutes to breathe themselves after such a scary moment, Mr. Chami casually made sure the woman was okay, then immediately returned to the bar to pick up drinks. The customers at his table were waiting, after all.

“She was in shock at first,” Mr. Chami remembered this week. “At that point it was about making her feel comfortable. I was glad I was there for her, and she gave me a kiss on both cheeks and told me that I saved her life.”

He added, “I was glad to be there for her, to be able to do what I have done before. Thank God she was okay.”

Mr. Chami, who first came to the United States after competing with the Moroccan swim team during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, moved to the East End in 1995, when he began working for Wolffer Estates. Shortly after, he and his wife, Tammy, who works as a teacher in East Hampton, moved to Hampton Bays.

While Mr. Chami said he immediately fell in love with the area, especially after his first summer here, he knew he needed to find ways to keep himself entertained during the winter, so he started taking different courses to avoid becoming a couch potato. The classes included cooking, sushi-making—and, fortuitously, both cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, and the Heimlich maneuver.

Mr. Chami he decided to take the course that included the Heimlich maneuver when he became a boating captain in East Hampton. He ran a party boat, Enigma, and needed certain qualifications, never imagining he would use the skills as often as he has.

Mr. Chami also pointed out that the importance of calling 911. In last week’s incident, he said, he was able to remain calm, and he removed the woman’s necklace before performing the maneuver so that she would be less constricted.

“If you don’t know what you are doing, it can be dangerous, but I have done it [five] times, so I felt comfortable enough to take care of this situation,” he said.

According to Ellen Komosinski, the American Heart Association Training Center Coordinator for the Suffolk County Department of Health, the Heimlich maneuver, also known as abdominal thrusts, is the best way to help someone who is choking. She said if the victim does fall unconscious, he or she should be placed flat on the floor, face up, for CPR.

“I feel like the Heimlich maneuver is so well-known that even children have picked up on it,” Ms. Komosinski said. “But being properly trained is very important in an emergency situation. I truly encourage everyone to take a CPR class.”

Once the woman at Bobby Van’s had started breathing freely again, Mr. Chami said, the entire restaurant let out a sigh of relief and returned to business as usual. After he took care of his tables and found someone to cover him for a few minutes, he was able to return to the woman—who did not have to be transported to the hospital—and talk for a few minutes.

She expressed extreme gratitude, said Mr. Chami, who added that he would be happy to step in again in the future if someone else needed his help. Like Ms. Komosinski, he encouraged people to get certified in CPR and learn the Heimlich maneuver, saying you never know when you will need it.

Classes held on the East End can be found at ahainstructornetwork.americanheart.org.