(WHTM) — Every Pennsylvania school would have anti-choking devices under a proposed bill.
Rep. Tarah Probst (D-Monroe/Pike) said she plans to submit legislation to require schools to have devices in cafeterias and in or around the school nurse’s office. At least two other states are exploring similar requirements.
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This Week in Pennsylvania
“According to the National Safety Council, in 2022, 5,553 people died from choking in the United States,” Probst said Monday in a co-sponsorship memo circulated to colleagues. “Anti-choking devices may be useful in reducing the number of choking deaths, as the devices are easy to use.”
The devices fit over a person’s mouth and nose, using suction to clear an obstruction from the airway. However, they are not FDA-approved.
In a memo last year, the agency encouraged the public to follow established choking rescue protocols, which include performing the Heimlich maneuver.
“Consumers should be aware that using anti-choking devices first could delay action, as consumers usually have to take them out of packaging, assemble them and follow device instructions, which may delay the use of established rescue protocols,” the agency said in the memo.
Probst’s bill, which she has not yet submitted, would also require schools to provide training on airway management, including the Heimlich maneuver, to any employee who is assigned to work in the cafeteria while students are present.
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Last year, a third-grade student in Cumberland County saved a classmate after learning to perform the maneuver from a movie.
Dr. Becky Smith, a pediatric intensive care unit physician at UPMC Children’s in Harrisburg, said it is easy to perform: Place a fist below the ribcage, and push in and up. For babies, Smith said, turn them face down, with their heads pointing downward to use gravity, and deliver firm blows to their back.
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