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Anyone Can Be a Hero

Kids eat lunch together, run around at recess together, and work together in the classroom, so they need to know how to help each other if something happens. Choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury—and can lead to death—in children in the United States. But trained bystanders of any age can save lives when choking occurs.

Anyone Can Be a Hero

Kids eat lunch together, run around at recess together, and work together in the classroom, so they need to know how to help each other if something happens. Choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury—and can lead to death—in children in the United States. But trained bystanders of any age can save lives when choking occurs.

Sara Cohen, MSN, RN, a clinical nurse education specialist at Penn Medicine, has been a long-time volunteer for the School District of Philadelphia, but she wanted to do more. When she found the interactive, hands-on Heimlich Heroes program, created by Deaconess Associations, Inc. and the Heimlich Institute, she decided to team up with school nurses and gym and health teachers to lead kid-friendly sessions. Using funding provided by a Penn Medicine CAREs grant, she was able to purchase posters, bookmarks, and special training dolls that feature a diaphragm, trachea, and lungs. If a child performs the maneuver correctly, a piece of foam will pop out of the doll’s mouth. To date, Cohen has helped train more than 1,300 students in grades 1-8, in six different Philadelphia public schools.

Program Heimlich Heroes
Location Philadelphia
Health Need Primary & Preventive Care
Funded with Support From