PHILADELPHIA — For school library worker Janna Cook, it seems saving school children’s lives is becoming her specialty.
Cook, a library media specialist at the Indian River School District’s Intermediate School and CSEA Jefferson County Local member, spends most of her day in the school library, but for 30 minutes every day she has lunch duty in the school cafeteria, supervising more than 100 children while they eat.
It was a routine Thursday afternoon in the cafeteria last October when her lifesaving skills once again were put to the test, when a 9-year-old boy began choking.
“Everyone just kind of panicked and I heard someone yell ‘he’s choking’ and I just high-tailed it across the cafeteria. I ‘Heimliched’ him at least 10 times and I was ready to put him on the floor and do mouth to mouth, but I ended up dislodging the piece of food,” Cook said. (The Heimlich maneuver uses abdominal compressions to dislodge food from a choking victim’s mouth.)
“I was really calm while it was happening, but after the fact I thought ‘I could have lost this kid.’ I was thinking … ‘this is somebody’s baby. I can’t do that (let him die)’.”
This was the third time she had saved a student, having saved another student six months earlier who was choking on a peanut butter sandwich. In 2002, she also saved an elementary school boy, who choked on a corn chip.
Each time, she relied on her training in CPR and first aid, through classes offered by the district. “It’s good that we are trained, because you just don’t ever know what might happen,” she said. “I really feel that anybody who’s working around children should be trained in first aid and CPR.”
“I’m just thankful that I was there and able to save those kids,” Cook said.
For her efforts, Cook was recognized in the local media, but she modestly brushes off compliments when people refer to her actions as heroic. She admits that she enjoyed when the kids passed her in school hallways afterwards, telling her “good job.”
“That makes me feel like I know I’m appreciated,” she said, smiling.
— Mark M. Kotzin
