Last Wednesday seemed like just a typical day for Roessleville Elementary School Custodian Steve O’Connor. Students were packed into the school’s cafeteria, enjoying their food and talking with one another. O’Connor was dumping some of the lunchroom’s garbage when he noticed one of the first-graders jumping up and grabbing her throat.
“Her face was bright right. I ended up asking her if she was choking, and she shook her head ‘yes.’ So I gave her three pats on the back and that didn’t do any good,” O’Connor said.
With no time to panic, the 47-year-old quickly pulled the girl from the table and performed the Heimlich maneuver twice, until a nacho flew from her throat. Once she began gasping for air, O’Connor ran her down to the school nurse, who determined her lungs were clear.
“He saved her life. She was totally fine, unfazed by the whole experience,” school nurse Judy DeVaney said.
It only took a moment’s time for O’Connor to realize he needed to perform the Heimlich. All of the South Colonie Central School District’s custodians are CPR-certified each year and trained to handle basic emergency situations. O’Connor has been working at the elementary school for the past five years and never experienced an emergency quite like it before.
“I never thought I’d have to use it in a million years. It was very, very scary. It happened so fast. I’m not sure who was more panicked, her or me. But training took right over and you do what you go to do,” he said. “You can’t just let somebody sit there and choke.”
Coincidentally, the young girl had a loose tooth, which fell out while she at the nurse’s office. O’Connor said he spoke to the girl the following day, and she was back to her normal routine.
“She had no idea what had happened, she said she was good the next day. I said, ‘You really scared me yesterday,’ but she’s all good,” O’Connor said. “It was a very scary situation. I was shaking like a leaf for probably two hours after that.”
DeVaney, who has worked as the elementary school’s nurse for 10 years, said she’s only seen one other incident at the school in which the Heimlich needed to be performed on a student. That student was also eating nachos.
Removing nachos from the school’s food options is “something to certainly take a look at,” South Colonie Central School District Superintendent Jonathan Buhner said.
“We’re always careful with kids and food. Unfortunately, sometimes little ones are talking while they’re eating and bad things can happen. I’m not sure if it’s specifically nachos versus just making sure kids are careful when they’re eating their food,” Buhner said. “Our food service people are careful about what’s served and that it meets certain regulations.”
While changing the food menu may be considered, Buhner said he’s just glad the student was OK.
“We’re obviously thrilled the little girl was okay. And (we) thank Mr. O’Connor for really stepping up and taking action at that time,” Buhner said. “We don’t want any kid in that situation, but we’re glad she’s OK.”
O’Connor has not been the only custodian to save a life at Roessleville Elementary. In 2001, Custodian Doug Hutton was working the night shift when he heard people screaming for help in the school gymnasium. A 72-year-old man had been playing basketball in the night men’s league when he had a heart attack and had completely flat lined. While others called for an ambulance, Hutton heard someone ask for an AED machine and he ran to get one from the hallway.
Although he had been certified using an automated external defibrillator unit and at the time had been working at the school for 19 years, Hutton had not used it before in an emergency situation.
“The man was dead. His eyes had rolled back. I got the machine, squatted down next to him. I read the directions and hooked it up to him. I told everyone to stand back, like we learned in class. The training just took over. The whole thing is, you got to stay calm,” Hutton said. “I shocked him and he flopped like a fish.”
Hutton said the man, William Johnson, started “coming around” when the EMTs were running into the gymnasium.
“It was quite the experience. The whole thing is like a blur. I didn’t sleep for two nights, my adrenaline was going,” Hutton said.
Since saving his life, Hutton said Johnson has come back to the school several times to thank him.
“It felt great,” Hutton said.
Although both Hutton and O’Connor still seem to be on the edge since saving two lives, they both emphasized the importance of having the right training for when disaster strikes.
“Go to CPR classes and go get certified,” O’Connor said. “You could save somebody’s life.”