Youngsters learn first aid in Hampton Little Medical School program

You don’t have to be a Boy Scout to, as the motto goes, be prepared.

“Let’s say you’re in the school lunchroom, and somebody is eating a grape,” Dr. Kim Roth told youngsters attending day camp at the Hampton Community Center. “And they start coughing and holding their throat a little bit. What do you think might be happening?”

The answer is that the classmate could be choking. And thanks to a first-aid program conducted by the Little Medical School of Greater Pittsburgh, campers learned what they can do to help mitigate the effects of medical emergencies.

Roth, the program’s lead instructor, spoke about her experience as a pediatric emergency room physician.

“Sometimes people would come in, and they were really sick,” the McCandless resident said. “But do you know what? Often, somebody at their house or at their school had helped them out first, and they actually got to me a little bit better than they might have been if they didn’t have that help.”

Participating in the Aug. 1 event was Dr. Arvind Venkat, also a pediatric emergency physician living in McCandless, whose second job is representing the 30th District in the state House of Representatives.

“When kids understand how to render first aid, and how to help their classmates and their friends, it’s very empowering. It helps build a better community, a healthier community. And it really helps bring it into the family, so that they’re thinking about safety, as well,” he said about the presentation. “So I’m very supportive and very positive about it.”

The local Little Medical School franchise — based in Hampton and owned by Dr. Kirsten Lin, yet another McCandless pediatrician — offers a variety of programs for children ages 1 to 14, with curricula developed and reviewed by health care professionals.

In addition to cases of choking, the first-aid session focused on helping people who have severe allergic reactions or seizures.

Roth explained how proper use of EpiPens, automatic injectors containing adrenaline, can help allergy sufferers regain their ability to breathe.

“If it is just you and your friend or family member together, I would look around really quickly to see if you can find an adult or somebody who can call 911, because eventually, they’ll need an ambulance to come and take them down to the hospital, to be all checked out,” she said.

“While you’re waiting for that ambulance to get there, you should ask them if they have an EpiPen. And if they’re too sick to do it themselves, or they’re too scared to do it themselves, you can help them.”

In cases of seizures, she told the children that symptoms tend to pass after short periods.

“But there are things you can do to help them while they’re having that seizure to make sure that they stay OK,” Roth said. “You want to help lower them to the floor and make sure they’re somewhere safe.”

She recommended rolling the sufferer onto his or her side, in case of vomiting, and watching to make sure that the person is breathing normally.

Among those assisting with the presentation were Roth’s daughters, Carson Middle School students Katie and Brooke Fackler, who demonstrated assisting a person who is choking by applying the abdominal thrusts of the Heimlich maneuver.

“You keep doing that until they’re able to get enough force to get that food out of the airway,” Roth said. “This is a really nice skill to have. If you recognize someone choking, you always want to send somebody to find an adult or call 911. But you may be able to help them and save their life before those other folks get there.”

Joining Roth in the program as instructors were college students Peri Dimitriou and Gianna Singh, along with Gianna’s mother, Angela, who urged the youngsters to remember what they learned.

“You might be able to help someone one day with this information,” she said. “It’s very helpful, even for people who aren’t doctors.”

For more information about the Little Medical School of Greater Pittsburgh, visit littlemedicalschool.com/pgh.