Mercy Hospital surgeon performs 'in-house' rescue of employee using Heimlich maneuver

CANTON − There is serendipity and then there is what happened to Jaida Evans.

Back on July 9, the young pharmacy tech was on a break in the cafeteria at Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital when she suddenly began choking on a piece of steak.

"I tried to take a drink of water," she recalled.

Fortunately, Evans had enough presence of mind to approach Dr. Harry Kourlis, director of cardiac and thoracic surgery, who was having lunch with his nurse practitioner several tables away.

"When I started choking, my first instinct was to look around to see who could help me. I saw the white coat and ran to him but I couldn't get a word out and he knew exactly what to do — he saved my life," she said.

Kourlis and Evans had never met, not surprising given that Mercy Hospital has about 2,500 employees.

"I didn't see her coming. I had my back to her," Kourlis said.

'She couldn't talk.'

Kourlis said a frantic Evans used the universal gesture for choking, which informed him that something was seriously wrong.

"She couldn't talk. I tried to perform the (Heimlich) maneuver a couple of times, but it didn't work," he said. "I tried it three more times, more forcefully. My nurse practitioner, Amanda Johnson, told me that I lifted her about 18 inches off the floor."

It worked.

Kourlis said that had he been unsuccessful, "We wouldn't be having this conversation."

The brain cannot go long without oxygen before damage begins.

"It would have been a very different outcome," he said. "The next step is administering CPR. When you get to that point, the outcome is not as good."

A grateful Evans agreed that her life most certainly would have been upended. A 2019 graduate of McKinley High School, Evans is set to graduate from Ohio State University with a degree in pharmacy.

In addition to working at Mercy, Evans commutes to Columbus three days a week for classes during the school year. The 23-year-old also is the mom of a 14-month-old daughter, Jaila.

Kourlis said that to his recollection, he's used a similar maneuver only one other time, when his 18-month-old nephew was choking, adding that doctors are taught basic lifesaving techniques during medical school and their residencies.

What is the Heimlich maneuver?

The Heimlich maneuver was developed in 1974 by the late Dr. Henry Heimlich, a thoracic surgeon in Cincinnati.

"You don't have to be a surgeon to learn this technique," Kourlis said. "It was automatic. I've never had to do that before, but I'm glad I was able to help her."

Ironically, Kourlis' teenage son successfully applied the Heimlich maneuver last year when a little boy was choking at Five Guys, a hamburger restaurant.

"I didn't know he knew anything about it," Kourlis said. "I asked him what he did afterward, and he said he went back to eating his hamburger."

Kourlis said he's glad he was able to help Evans.

"She's a wonderful young lady," he said. "It's nice to have a happy ending to a story."

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com . On X (formerly Twitter): @cgoshayREP .

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Mercy Hospital surgeon performs 'in-house' rescue of employee using Heimlich maneuver