Employees at Myeong-dong Station on Seoul Subway Line 4 rescued a 7-year-old American child whose airway was blocked while eating jelly.
According to Seoul Metro on the 2nd, a request for help came to the customer safety office at Myeong-dong Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, around 11 a.m. on the 1st, for a child who had blocked their airway while eating jelly.
In response, four Myeong-dong Station employees, including deputy station chief Choi Byeong-jik and supervisor Kim Beom-jun, immediately rushed to the scene. A 7-year-old American boy was reportedly having difficulty breathing.
Deputy station chief Choi and supervisor Kim, upon assessing the child's condition, immediately took turns administering the Heimlich maneuver. The child's breathing returned to normal afterward, and the child was transported to Seoul National University Hospital by an emergency medical service team dispatched to the scene.
The Heimlich maneuver is a first aid procedure performed when an airway is obstructed by a foreign object, posing a risk of suffocation. For adults, the rescuer wraps their arms around the patient's waist from behind, places their right hand over their left fist, and forcefully pushes the upper abdomen upward or hits the back to expel the foreign object. For infants under 1 year old, the Heimlich should be performed at a 45-degree angle.
Ma Hae-geun, head of Seoul Metro's operations headquarters, noted, "Reporting to employees promptly during an emergency in the subway is a barometer of saving lives. We will do our best to ensure citizen safety through continuous emergency response training for our employees."