SAN DIEGO, CA — Poway Unified School District office assistants play a vital role in office operations. From attendance to administrative tasks to the occasional band aid, they’re at the front lines of a making sure an office runs smoothly.
For Kathy Wexler, an office assistant at Mesa Verde Middle School, that role recently included helping to save a student’s life.
On Monday, Oct. 20, Wexler was working in the school office with two teaching assistants, one of whom was enjoying a piece of hard candy. When a joke during discussion prompted some sudden laughter, the piece of candy became lodged in the TA’s throat and blocked her airway.
Wexler said she could tell right away this was an emergency. While a campus supervisor ran to grab a health technician for help, Wexler acted, providing the Heimlich maneuver to the student.
“I didn’t think twice about it. I just picked her up and did it,” she said. “It was an out of body experience. I just kept thinking am I doing it correctly.”
Wexler said that it only took five to six maneuvers for the student’s airway to clear and allow her to breathe once again.
“It did scare me kind of. Like I said, I’ve never been in that situation before. I just knew I had to take care of her. She’s like my kid,” Wexler said.
Though the situation was new to her, Wexler said she takes CPR training every couple of years, like most of her colleagues, and worked in prior roles that placed her in critical situations. She also serves as backup to the campus’ health tech. Still, she was surprised with how she went into “autopilot,” as she called it, despite never being in this type of situation before.
“You don’t know how you’re going to be until you’re in this situation,” she said.
Which is why she said if there’s anything someone can take away from her story, it’s the courage to act.
“I was always the first person who would be afraid to help, because I wouldn’t want to do something wrong,” said Wexler. “I would want people to not be afraid to step in, because doing something is better than not doing anything.”