Budget Chief Miller to the Rescue With Heimlich Maneuver

Budget Director James C. Miller III was on the program as the luncheon speaker, but he jumped into action as an amateur paramedic when a waiter who appeared to be choking fell to the floor.

Miller administered the Heimlich maneuver, a means of expelling trapped food by sharply squeezing the victim beneath the rib cage, Miller’s spokesman, Edwin Dale, confirmed Tuesday.

But the waiter wasn’t choking--he was having an epileptic seizure, according to a spokeswoman for Georgetown University Hospital. “The Heimlich maneuver wouldn’t do anything to help that, but it was a good-will gesture,” said the spokeswoman, Sara Forden.

The man was treated and released after the Monday incident, she said.