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Highlands Today

Choking Student Saved By School Worker

HEALTH TECH IS RECOGNIZEDBY SCHOOL BOARD

Marc Valero/Highlands Today

From left: Avon Park Middle School Principal Dan Johnson thanks his school’s health tech, Susan Prohaska, for her efforts on May 29 to save a student who was choking on a piece of food.

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By MARC VALERO | Highlands Today

Published: June 11, 2008

Updated: 06/11/2008 05:44 pm

AVON PARK — Were it not for a school worker, a doughnut would have almost killed an Avon Park Middle School student.

A group of Avon Park Middle students decided to make a game out of a doughnut treat and dared each other to swallow one in one go.

Melvin Prewitt stuffed one in his mouth. In a moment, it got stuck in his throat, and Prewitt started to turn blue from a lack of oxygen.

Teachers frantically tried the Heimlich maneuver to no avail.

For 20 years, health tech Susan Prohaska has helped Avon Park Middle students with their bumps and scrapes, upset stomachs and general aches and pains.

Periodic training at the Highlands County Health Department has prepared her for a variety of first aid and health-related situations.

In a moment, she dislodged the doughnut from Prewitt's throat.

He was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital and released four days later. He's fully expected to recover.
Avon Park Middle Principal Dan Johnson told the school board Tuesday about the May 29 incident.

"It's a very, very scary thing the few times I've dealt with a situation where you could have lost a child.

"She [Prohaska] came through ... and I'm certainly very proud of what she did."

Johnson presented Prohaska with a certificate of recognition and a gift from the superintendent, the school board and himself.

Health department supervising nurse Judith New wrote in a note about the incident.

"There sometimes comes a moment in our life, some say our 15 minutes of fame, when we have thrust upon us a situation where we must stand tall, face a challenge, show what we are made of. Mrs. Prohaska faced her moment, when she suddenly found herself in a life or death situation with a child that was choking to death."

Debra Miller, Prewitt's stepmother, thanked her stepson's savior in a note.

"If not for the knowledge and quick actions of your school nurse it is my understanding Melvin would no longer be with us," she wrote.

At the school board meeting, Prohaska said she couldn't have done it without her office staff.

"In an emergency, they are my backup, and I depend highly on them, and I'm thankful to the health department for the training that we get every year to handle these situations.

"Sometimes it is just a simple boo boo, and then other times it is a more serious thing, and we all take our jobs very seriously," she added.

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