Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Anne Brazil-Kolb, a Redwood Middle School teacher at Strawberry Park School.
Redwood teacher becomes a hero in choking incident
Heimlich maneuver wasn't working
By Leigh Ann Maze
Anne Brazil-Kolb, a teacher at Redwood Middle School, was something of a hero on Feb. 8. She was in the office at Strawberry Park School, where the sixth-grade classes are being held during construction, when a teacher ran in asking for medical help. When Brazil-Kolb arrived on the scene moments later, a teacher was performing the Heimlich maneuver on a small boy who was choking on a marble. Emergency crews were already on the way.
The boy's face was blue and his body began to twitch, Brazil-Kolb said. When he began to gasp, Brazil-Kolb knew he was getting some air, but his face was not getting any pinker, a sign that he was not getting enough oxygen, she said. An attempted finger-sweep only pushed the marble down deeper.
"The boy's teachers followed all of the right first-aid procedures, and went to get help when it wasn't working," Brazil-Kolb said. Seeing that the situation went beyond regular first-aid training, Brazil-Kolb stepped in and took over. Brazil-Kolb, who is tall, grabbed the boy by his feet and hung him upside down, hoping that gravity would help dislodge the marble. When that didn't work she put the boy on her knee and gave him the infant Heimlich maneuver. Still no luck, so Brazil-Kolb tried a slightly different position and purposely made the child throw up, and out came the marble.
"It all happened so quickly," Brazil-Kolb said. "The boy was choking, so he was getting some air in; I just sped up the process."
Brazil-Kolb, a mother of three, has been a teacher at Redwood for three years. She was born and raised in Saratoga and currently lives just a few blocks from where she grew up. She is certified in first aid and infant, child and adult CPR through the Red Cross and is a member of Redwood's and the Saratoga Union School District's emergency preparedness committees. Teachers in the SUSD are required to have CPR certification as part of their teaching credential, according to the district office.
Brazil-Kolb said she has neither seen nor spoken to the child since that day, and does not know his name or his age. She recalls he very politely wiped her pants after throwing up on them and said "thank you" in a small voice. "Somebody taught him his manners," she said.
The 8-year-old child, whose name cannot be released for privacy and confidentiality purposes, is a student in a Santa Clara County Office of Education special day class for autistic children at Strawberry Park. He lives with a foster family in San Jose.
According to the Red Cross, not getting enough oxygen is a life-threatening emergency that requires immediate assistance. If a person cannot breathe, brain damage is possible after four to six minutes. After six to 10 minutes brain damage is likely and after more than 10 minutes without oxygen, irreversible brain damage occurs.
"We are all very proud of her," Redwood principal Christopher Farmer said. "She quite possibly saved the boy's life."
Saratoga, California Since 1955
