A Marion County restaurant owner is caught on camera potentially saving the life of one of his customers.

  • Ocala restaurant owner does Heimlich manuever on customer
  • Owner said his entire restaurant is trained for Heimlich, CPR
  • Singh has Heimlich/CPR instructor come every 3 months

Owner Gurpreet Singh said he heard a customer coughing Thursday morning at his restaurant Amrit Palace on College Road in Ocala.

"I saw this elderly woman giving another woman the Heimlich, but it appeared that she didn't have enough force to do it as she was patting her back. The woman was not feeling any better," said Singh.

Surveillance video from the restaurant shows Singh stepping in, using the Heimlich maneuver twice.

"Having that feeling when you get when you choke is very, very scary," he said.

Fortunately, it appeared that the woman was okay.

"She said thank you, she caught her breath for a moment or two, and she sat down, and I think she was happy to continue eating," said Singh.

Singh said he's been in the restaurant business for about five years, and this isn's the first time he's had to use the maneuver.

"Situations like this do occur. That's why me and my staff and almost everybody in my restaurant, especially front of house, is trained for the Heimlich and CPR," he said.

Singh said he has an instructor come on site every three months for Heimlich and CPR training.