High school student saves choking classmate's life

A high school student in the US has put his first aid training to good use after using the Heimlich manoeuvre on a choking classmate.

Will Olson was eating lunch in the cafeteria of La Crosse Central High School in Wisconsin when he started choking on Wednesday.

"We couldn't tell if Will was choking or just laughing and coughing at the same time," Ian Brown told ABC News.

"Eventually, what started to give it away was the redness in his face and then the hand motions to his neck."

Luckily, Ian had completed a first aid course as part of a junior police officer training program.

He jumped in and performed the Heimlich manoeuvre just four times. Seconds later, the food was dislodged from his friend's throat.

"I felt thankful that I had Ian, a friend there that had the training to do what he did," Will said.

CCTV footage of Ian's heroics have been released by the school.

Ian and Will are now planning on addressing the local school board to ask that basic CPR training be a required part of the school district's mandatory health classes.

Choking is the fourth leading cause of accidental or unintentional death in the US.

The Heimlich manoeuvre is credited with saving more than 100,000 lives since its creation in 1974.