Watch this heroic off-duty cop deliver a life-saving Heimlich maneuver

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An off-duty New Jersey cop is being heralded as a hero after he successfully performed a Heimlich maneuver on a customer choking on his food at the local wing joint.

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Trooper Dennis Palaia of the New Jersey State Police was enjoying football and wings at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Rockaway Township on October 23 when he noticed a nearby man in distress. Palaia quickly realized that his fellow customer was choking and leaped into action, performing a Heimlich maneuver and dislodging the food blocking the man’s airway.

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The choking victim was able to make a full recovery, WABC reports. And while he’ll probably have a tough time forgetting that scary moment, thanks to Trooper Palaia, he’ll be able to enjoy plenty more football games.

Like all first responders, police are trained in basic first aid, which includes learning to deliver a Heimlich maneuver. While the man might have been helpless without Trooper Palaia, he’s lucky that somebody around new the life-saving tactic. And the Heimlich probably a good thing for everybody to learn, as it has an amazingly high success rate at almost 87 percent!

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