School bans lunchroom talking so they can hear if students are choking

From the Associated Press (via Breitbart):

A Roman Catholic elementary school adopted new lunchroom rules this week requiring students to remain silent while eating. The move comes after three recent choking incidents in the cafeteria.

No one was hurt, but the principal of St. Rose of Lima School explained in a letter to parents that if the lunchroom is loud, staff members cannot hear a child choking.

To begin with, instead of reacting to three recent choking incidents by telling students to pipe down, why not instead teach the ankle biters on how to properly chew their meal?

Had the staff bothered to simply with the school nurse, or just had remedial knowledge of first aid, they'd also be aware like most Americans that if you can hear someone coughing or gagging, its pretty unlikely they're actually choken. In fact, rule of thumb is that if you're considering using the Heimlich maneuver on someone, don't dare if you can hear them making sounds - it means air is moving from their lungs.

Heck, even the folks at Lifetime know this:

» Know the signs that someone is choking: wheezing, inability to breathe or speak, turning blue, a frightened look, bulging veins.

Of course, this was a Catholic School...

The Highlight Reel

Thanks for still checking here. As stated many times before, all of my efforts have been spent writing for blogging.la. In the sidebar you'll see a link to my most recent posts, and is constantly updated.

Here's a few recent posts I've done over there that I'd like to get more people to check out:

Katy Sullivan - I've been posting video work from LA filmmaker who aren't at Sundance this week, including one about a local actress who recently started running even though she was born without legs.

Madge - A rant I typed up while at the doctors office with my girlfriend. In short, doctor's receptionists often suck.

All California Starbucks Required to Have Restrooms - A more in depth, journalistic piece, with possibly (cough:: likely) flawed facts. Thats the beauty of blogs though, as I'll be posting a follow up soon. If I was a real journalist, I wouldn't be allowed to make mistakes.

How To Survive Your First Day of Jury Duty - Some tips for virgins and the more experienced.

Metroblogging's 7 Gifts to the World - This is an epic listing of posts made at other Metroblogging sites around the world. I just wrote the briefs, which was an epic project into itself.

LA Comedy Club to Ban the N-Word - I live close to where Michael Richards called some black patrons "the name that white people shall not speak." This post is my take.

The rest of the items I post tend to be of local or immediate interest, but these are some maybe friends and family will appreciate. Check out the comment threads, where readers don't hesitate to correct or cheer me on.