LAPD officers use CPR to save choking woman

Two Los Angeles police officers helped to save the life of a woman who was choking at a Woodland Hills pizza restaurant, administering CPR until paramedics arrived, officials said Sunday.

Officers Paul Maldonado and Kurt Logan were flagged down by an employee of the pizza shop in the 6200 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard about 1:30 p.m. Saturday and found the 75-year-old woman lying unconscious on the floor, police said.

“When we walked in, I saw her on the floor to the rear of the restaurant and immediately started CPR,” Maldonado, a former reserve fireman, said in a statement. “Within minutes, we were able to get a pulse.”

According to Logan: “I could see something lodged inside the woman’s throat and tried to position her head to clear the object, while my partner did chest compressions until the paramedics arrived.”

Paramedics took the woman to a local hospital, where she was able to breathe on her own.

“Sometimes, our officers are presented with a situation where immediate and decisive action must be taken to save lives,” said LAPD Topanga area Capt. Thomas P. Brascia. “Their response was extraordinary, and as a result, a life was saved.”

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