Wheeler teacher aids choking child

A teacher’s quick thinking may have saved the life of a student at the Wheeler Avenue School two weeks ago.

Maria Cassano, a fifth-grade teacher, was walking her class to lunch on Jan. 12 when one of her students approached her. He stepped out of the line and was beat red with tears in his eyes and his hands over his throat. Cassano asked if he was choking.

“He couldn’t answer so I knew I had to do the Heimlich maneuver,” she said. The child had two quarters stuck in his throat. After a few thrusts, nothing came out but the items became dislodged and the student swallowed the money.

Cassano said she still doesn’t know why the student had the quarters in his mouth. The child went down to the nurse’s office and eventually was taken by his parents to the hospital for x-rays.

The whole incident happened within a matter of seconds, she said. Cassano said she dropped her bag, told one of her students to get the nurse and began the Heimlich maneuver. “It’s a scary thing because you don’t really know if it’s going to work,” she said. “I’m not convinced it did work because it didn’t come out.”

Principal Christine Zerillo, who asked that the child not be named, praised the quick thinking of the teacher. “She displayed a high level of professionalism, alertness and a quick response in an emergency situation,” Zerillo said. “Ms. Cassano is a special teacher who can always be counted on to put children first. We’re very proud of her.”

The school nurse comes into her classroom every year to do a first aid unit with the children. Cassano said that is how she learned to do the Heimlich maneuver.

After the incident, Cassano said other teachers approached her and said they were glad the child was in her class because they wouldn’t have been able to do the same thing. “I think it opened a lot of eyes,” she said. “Maybe it’s a good idea for teachers to get training on how to do the Heimlich maneuver.”

Zerillo said most teachers in the school have either been formally trained in the Heimlich maneuver or informally trained like Cassano.

In her 10 years teaching at Wheeler Avenue School, Cassano said that was the scariest moment. She said the student thanked her many times and the child’s mother came to the school the next day and gave her a hug and kiss. “I care for the kids and the mom knew that,” she said. “That was the best part for me.”