Bellmore teacher's Heimlich maneuver saved second grader

A second-grade teacher in Bellmore was recently recognized for saving a student who was choking during snack time.

Alessia Hoffman, who teaches at Charles A. Reinhard Early Childhood Center, saidAnderson Forman, 7, was eating a gummy candy and watching a story on her classroom’s smartboard at around 10 a.m. on Jan. 6. Hoffman noticed that Anderson had become distressed and immediately sprang into action.

“Something just didn’t look right, so I approached the student and asked him if he was OK,” recalled Hoffman, 28, of Farmingdale. “He shook his head ‘no’ and wasn’t able to verbally respond to me, which was concerning. Then, I asked if he was able to breathe and he responded ‘no’ again, but not verbally — just shaking his head.”

Hoffman said she then took the boy out of his seat and hit him on his back in an attempt to dislodge the item, which is what Reinhard’s teachers had been trained to do by school nurses Toni Costa and Jenna Maini. When that didn’t work, she moved on to administering the Heimlich maneuver, and after three abdominal thrusts the food item “came right out,” Hoffman said, noting the entire incident lasted less than a minute.

“I’m just thankful that I was able to act as quickly as I did,” she said. “In that moment, it’s kind of fight or flight mode and you think of your training. You have to help the student and you do anything you can to do that.”

The boy’s father, Michael Forman, said he was “very thankful” for Hoffman’s heroics. He also added that it is “reassuring” to know the school’s staff members are all properly trained to handle such emergency situations and that his son “is in good hands.”

“It was a little bit of shock at first, and then you’re very thankful that people in the school community respond in a way that is above and beyond anything you can imagine,” Forman said. “Take nothing for granted; anything can happen to a child at any time.”

Hoffman was honored for her efforts with a certificate of recognition by the Bellmore school district’s board of education in January. Sen. Steven Rhoads (R-Bellmore) also attended the meeting and presented her with a citation.

“We are so proud that Mrs. Hoffman’s quick action made a profound difference through lifesaving protocols,” said Reinhard Principal KerriAnn Sanpietro. “Her vigilance reflects the safe and caring environment we strive to cultivate in the Reinhard Early Childhood Center and throughout the Bellmore school district.”

By Michael R. Ebert

michael.ebert@newsday.com

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.