CPR and Choking Emergencies

It was a fall day and kind of warm outside. The children just came in from outside. They had washed their hands and were sitting at the table waiting for their afternoon snack. There were ten children in the class room ages ranging from 7- 10 years old. I and one other teacher were in the class room also. My helper went to get the crackers and milk for the children’s snack. The children started eating and were talking among themselves.
When out of the blue one of the children yelled something was wrong with Billy. I immediately ran over to Billy and he was holding his throat. I said to the other teacher to call 911. I ask him if he was choking and he nodded his head yes. I got behind Billy after I pulled him up out of the chair. I made a fist and put it right above his navel and did a quick upward thrust. I had to do this two times. Then the cracker that he was choking on came flying out of his mouth. He was very scared and started crying. I called his parents to let them know what had happened. His parents told me they would come pick Billy up. In the mean time before his parents arrived the rescue squad came and checked Billy out and told him he would be okay.
If not for the training I received in first aid and CPR and knowing how to do the Heimlich maneuver Billy could have died. I explained to the children what had happened and how we could avoid it from happening again. I told them to make sure they don’t eat so fast and to chew their food up better before swallowing it.
I think everyone that works with children or infants should know CPR, first aid and how to do the Heimlich maneuver. Because you never know when it will be needed and to always be prepared for emergencies.

It was a beautiful spring day and the weather was kind of warm but not too hot. All the children wanted to go outside and play after they ate lunch. There was one little girl Sally told me she wasn’t feeling very good. So I told her that after lunch she could lay down on her cot. She was sitting at the table and getting ready to eat when suddenly she fell off her chair and onto the floor. I rushed over to Sally and tapped her on the cheek but got no response. I told my other teacher to call 911. Sally was lying on her side and I rolled her onto her back. I put my face down to her nose and mouth to see if she was breathing but she was not. I lifted her chin to open her airway. I then covered her mouth with mine. I used my other hand to pinch her nose. I gave Sally 2 slow breaths. I looked at her chest to see if she was breathing she was not. So I called to my helper to help me. While she was doing the breathing I was doing the chest compressions. I was using the heel of my hand on Sally’s breastbone and compressed about 1/3 depth. After doing this two times Sally started breathing on her own. She was scared and didn’t know what was going on. The rescue squad came and was doing an assessment on Sally while I called her parents to tell them what had happened. Her parents wanted Sally to be transferred to the hospital. I told Sally that I was going with her in the rescue squad and her parents would meet us there.
If not for the teachers not knowing how to do CPR properly Sally would have died. Teachers need to be calm and to resure the other children that Sally would be okay.