Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa on Thursday thanked her Republican colleague Rand Paul of Kentucky for performing the Heimlich maneuver on her while she was choking during a Senate lunch.

A reporter for Politico reported the news on Xformerly Twitter, wrote that senators told him Ms. Ernst was doing well after the incident.

Ms Ernst quickly used the experience to attack the Democrats, writing on social media: “I can’t help but choke on the woke policies that the Democrats are shoving down our throats. Thank you, Doctor @RandPaul!”

Her office did not provide more information about the episode, saying in an email: “Thank you for checking in.”

Mr. Paul, whose office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, is an ophthalmologist. Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, called him a ‘hero’ in a message on X.

“Not all senators can quote Mises and Hayek — while saving lives,” Mr. Lee wrote, referring to Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek, two Austrian-born economists revered by libertarians.

Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, photos posted on X earlier Thursday about him and Ms. Ernst holding plates of food at lunch, including an Iowa pork chop.

It is said that the Heimlich maneuver, developed by Dr. Henry J. Heimlich in 1974, saved thousands of lives. It involves wrapping both arms around a choking victim from behind, making a fist just over the victim’s navel and thrusting sharply upwards five times to eject an object blocking the windpipe. Although it is possible result in broken ribsthe maneuver is very effective.

Ms. Ernst, 53, is not the first senator to need the Heimlich during a lunch in Washington in recent years.

In 2018, Claire McCaskill, then a Democratic senator from Missouri, choked during a Senate lunch, prompting Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, to perform the Heimlich on her.

One of her ribs broke.

“She could have suffocated,” Mr. Manchin said at the time. according to CNN. “And you know, Claire, she’s stronger than nails.”

On Thursday afternoon, even Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who usually spars with Mr. Paul, was grateful for the senator’s quick thinking: This is reported by NBC News.

“God bless Rand Paul,” Mr. Graham said. “I never thought I would say that.”