By By KATHIE HEMPEL / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Bumps and bruises, broken bones and bloody noses are all a part of growing up. The stories of choking students in school cafeterias, however, raised some red flags for local school officials.
Staff from Niles Community Schools' security, maintenance and food services attended American Heart Association First Aid training yesterday. They learned the basics in a four-hour class held at the Niles Fire Department.
"School cafeteria choking incidents made the national news twice last year and got us wondering if our staff would know what to do if it happened here," said Doug Law, Superintendent of Niles Schools.
Niles Fire Department was asked if they could deliver a program on how to handle a choking emergency. Considering the great potential for other types of incidents on the playground and in classrooms, it was decided that a general first aid class was needed.
Doug Hughes, a driver/operator with the Niles Fire Department, who was instrumental in creating the training partnership with Southwestern Michigan Community Ambulance Service (SMCAS) conducted the course. Forty individuals attended.
Working with a video presentation, he taught his students the basic first aid applications not only for choking situations but also for bleeding control, allergic reactions, cardiac distress and how to identify other emergency situations. He helped participants know how to best handle critical incidents until professional health care arrives on the scene.
"If a child were to fall from a slide, that is a 7 to 8 foot fall. You don't want to just snatch the child up and run. The most important thing to remember is to stay calm. You want the child to be calm. They need to know that the person in charge is calm so they don't panic," said Hughes.
He reminded the school personnel that it would take the fire department or SMCAS no more than 4-6 minutes to reach any school location.
"You are their best chance for survival when you know what to do prior to the ambulance arriving."
Cindy Wolkens and Andrea Clutter, who both work at Ring Lardner Middle School, were attending the mandatory training session. Wolkens has taken First Aid before so it was just a refresher for her. Clutter had not.
"I want to have the knowledge and common sense to stay calm and keep calm given an emergency situation. I would want to know that I had done all I could do and have done it right," she said.
"And you have two boys yourself," added fellow participant Pam Cross, who works for Cedarlane Alternative High School.
Cross' statement emphasized a fact that Hughes stressed earlier. These newly trained school employees will be able to use their skills in situations both at school and in their private lives.
"As a trained First Aid responder in an emergency situation you are the ones who should be working on the patient. Those who are not trained need to provide the room you need by getting the gawkers out of there. The more control you have over the scene the better the chance of not adding to the problem," said Hughes.
Participants were taught to protect themselves while administering any first aid treatments. They learned the importance of the wearing and proper disposal of latex gloves; the only equipment they would need to use 95 percent of the time.
Hughes stated he would never perform CPR on anyone other than a relative or someone he knew extremely well without a mouth barrier.
He made a point of reminding his class of the importance of washing hands thoroughly to avoid cross-contamination.
Law and Hughes have arranged another training session, for professional staff within the schools to be held April 20.
The training will take in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the proper use of the six Automated External Defibrillator (AED) units recently purchased with Homeland Security funds.
No one wants to have to respond to an emergency, especially where a child is involved. Those, who do find themselves faced with an emergency, will be very glad they have the proper training and skills.