On February 27, 202 a 12-year-old boy choked on an orange while having lunch at his school. The fruit caused a complete blockage of his airway. The SRO and others immediately performed the Heimlich and did a finger sweep but could not dislodge the obstruction. Soon the child was cyanotic and unconscious. As the SRO was starting CPR another teacher rushed in with her LifeVac unit. They used the LifeVac 2 times and the orange dislodged and the child was able to breathe. He regained consciousness and was transported to the hospital for observation, “Your product worked when nothing else would,”
WBRC-Fox 6 News
Odenville teacher provides safety device to help save students’ life
A scary situation as an Odenville Middle School student stopped breathing as a piece of fruit lodged in his throat. With the help of school personnel, they were able to clear his throat using a device that school officials are now buying.
On Tuesday, a student from Odenville Middle School was eating lunch in Odenville Elementary School’s cafeteria when suddenly, he began choking on a piece of fruit.
Justin Burns, Superintendent of Education at St. Clair County Schools said,“They had tried the Heimlich maneuver multiple times. We had SRO’s, our school resource officers over there, we had a nurse there, a teacher. They had all come to the scene very quickly.”
Desperate to dislodge the object from the 12-year-olds throat, Pre-K teacher Meg Lowry quickly provided a LifeVac device that she and a co-worker purchased for their students in case one of them had a choking situation, but never expected to ever use it.
