Kalamazoo, Mich. – Kalamazoo police officer Jason Gates is being hailed a hero after saving the life of a woman who was choking behind the wheel.
Gates pulled the woman over for a red light violation Saturday morning.
“I didn’t really intend to issue a ticket but I didn’t think I wasn’t really doing my job if I didn’t stop and talk to her. For the first second or so I thought she might be trying to get out of ticket. And then I realized.”
Dash cam video shows Gates asking the woman if she was okay, and when he realizes she’s in trouble, he administers a couple of back blows. When that doesn’t work, you can see Gates quickly pull the woman from the car and administer the Heimlich maneuver.
“I tried to dislodge the item from her throat by hitting her on the back, when that didn’t work, I got her out and I used the Heimlich Maneuver for the first time in my nine year police career and it worked.”
The woman did not get a ticket.
