# How to Save Yourself if You’re Choking Alone: A Paramedic’s Unconventional Method
A piece of meat goes wrong, a bite is swallowed too quickly, and suddenly you can’t breathe. If someone is nearby, they can help. But what do you do when you’re alone at home, unable to speak, cough, or call for help?
It’s precisely this terrifying question that an American firefighter-paramedic decided to answer—with a method born in a boxing ring.
## A Resuscitation Instructor Confronted with a Gap in Protocols
The man demonstrating this technique is named Raymond. A firefighter and paramedic north of Denver, Colorado, he has been teaching first aid and CPR for twenty-two years. Over the years, he noticed a glaring gap: there is no truly effective, widely taught way to rescue yourself when choking and no one is there to help.
