Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 10, 1993 TAG: 9307100023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The 8-year-old is also a little wary of popping Fireballs, Life Savers and other hard candy after surviving a choking episode at her pool last week.
In fact, for a while, the rising third-grader at Oak Grove Elementary School considered spending the rest of her life eating mashed potatoes and other soft foods.
"I thought I was going to die," she said.
It was rest period at Castle Rock Swim Club on June 30, and Alana had just plunked down her 15 cents to sample the Willy Wonka brand jawbreaker.
After she popped the dime-size ball in her mouth, she turned to her mother to say something. But no words came out.
"I saw Alana just grabbing her throat," said Deirdre Lee, a registered nurse who was sunning nearby. "I was able to recognize the basic symptoms of choking."
When Lee rushed to the child's side, Alana had turned red and could not speak. Alana's mother, Jena Holland, was screaming for a lifeguard.
So Lee did what she had learned in Advanced Certified Life Training - she calmly performed the Heimlich maneuver.
The Heimlich maneuver, devised by a surgeon, is designed to dislodge an object from a choking victim's windpipe. The victim is clasped from behind, a closed fist is placed below the rib cage and air is forced out of the lungs in an upward thrust.
The first time Lee performed the maneuver, the jawbreaker still remained lodged in Alana's throat. Lee did the maneuver again, and this time it cleared the candy from her trachea.
"I had established a clear airway and she was able to talk," said Lee, who has worked at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem for nine years. "I told her exactly what I was doing. I told her to stay with me and she gargled and I feel certain she swallowed and it went into her esophagus."
By the time the rescue squad arrived, Alana was crying but out of danger. Because she had swallowed the candy instead of spitting it up, she was taken to Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley for observation and X-rays.
The weight of the barium liquid taken for the X-ray procedure apparently moved the jawbreaker down through her system, her mother said.
This was not the first time Lee has made a rescue using the maneuver. Last fall, her 5-year-old son choked on a marble while playing the game Mousetrap.
"He had no air at all and I had to Heimlich him twice," Lee said.
"I think everybody who has children should learn it," said Lee, who doesn't consider herself a heroine. "I think if you're trained, your anxiety level is less. Anyone who can take a course, should. I guess by being trained professionally in both instances I was able to remain calm."
Jena Holland, Alana's mother, couldn't agree more. Because she wasn't sure how to help her daughter, she did one of the things rescue workers say NOT to do to a choking victim - she shook her.
For untrained rescuers, the three things that come automatically to mind are "shake them, raise their arms and beat them on the back," said Betty Whittaker, an official with the Roanoke chapter of the American Red Cross. "But that is not advised."
Through The Red Cross' Community First Aid and Safety Class, Community CPR Class, and Adult and Infant CPR classes, people can learn how to recognize a choking victim and how to proceed to administer emergency aid.
The Community First Aid and Safety Class, which costs $35, is the most comprehensive, offering training for respiratory and cardiac problems, sudden illness and injuries to infants, children and adults.
The nine-hour classes are conducted in three evening sessions, one day a week for three weeks.
The Red Cross also offers a four-hour adult CPR class at a cost of $24; a five-hour infant and child CPR class at a cost of $27; and a 6 1/2-hour Community CPR class, which covers training for emergencies in infants, children and adults, at a cost of $27.
The fees help pay for workbooks and equipment such as the $1,800 mannequin used in the class, Whittaker said.
The Red Cross is also willing to hold work-site training. Holland said she plans to consult with Castle Rock's owner, Jim Phillips, to see if such a class could be held there for members.
Holland said she also is working with Roanoke County officials to honor Lee and lifeguard Mike Zirkel, who assisted in the rescue at the pool.
Phillips said all of the pool's lifeguards are trained to perform the Heimlich and other lifesaving functions.
For a few days last week, he said, the pool's rest periods were suspended because there was some concern that the lifeguards were also on break at the time of the incident. But Phillips said there was overwhelming support for reinstating the rest time.
Phillips said he was satisfied that the lifeguards responded within 30 seconds of the incident.
In the meantime, Holland has banned jawbreakers for both Alana and her 10-year-old son Jeffrey.
She won't have to worry about other children purchasing the candy at the pool. The concession there has pulled the jawbreakers off the shelf.
To obtain more information on Red Cross classes, call 703-985-3550. Class size is limited so early enrollment is encouraged.
by CNB