Day Care Teacher Saves Girl Choking on Candy
A teacher well-versed in life-saving techniques was credited with saving a 4-year-old girl who choked on a piece of candy at a day care center in Boyle Heights, a Fire Department spokesman said Tuesday.
The teacher, Judith Llerena, applied the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the candy from the child’s throat as her mother and a group of teachers watched at Soto Street Children’s Center Monday afternoon. The girl had a “fully obstructed airway” and had started to turn blue, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.
“She was in need of immediate assistance, which required the prompt application of the Heimlich maneuver,” he said, referring to the technique of dislodging objects stuck in the windpipe.
By the time paramedics arrived, Llerena had dislodged the candy and the girl was breathing. Llerena, who has worked at the center for eight years, has had three years of training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other life-saving techniques, Humphrey said.
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