When a Ridgeway Elementary School student began choking during lunch, their training took over, the staff members said.
Patch Staff
|Updated Tue, Mar 4, 2025 at 3:11 pm ET
MANCHESTER, NJ — Alyssa Testa and Reid Stapp will tell you they simply did what they have been trained to do: respond to an emergency as a team.
The Ridgeway Elementary School staff members' actions were more than just a rote response, however; they saved the life of a child.
The pair were honored at the Manchester Township Board of Education meeting in February for their response to the child, who choked during lunch at school. The district did not release the age or gender of the child for privacy reasons.
The incident happened Feb. 19, district officials said, while Testa and Stapp were on duty supervising one of the lunch periods, with 60 to 75 students in the cafeteria. The school has 500 students, and the lunch periods are organized by grade level, officials said.
"I was walking around the cafeteria when the student tapped me on the shoulder," Testa, a lunch aide, said Tuesday. As she turned around she saw the student was in distress.
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"The student was bright red and had a hand on their throat," she said, and the child gestured that they were choking.
Testa called over Stapp, who said the child was trying to cough but could not.
"The student was definitely having difficulty and in distress," Stapp said, and it was quickly apparent that he needed to perform the Heimlich Maneuver.
It took a few Heimlich compressions to clear the child's airway, Stapp said. It wasn't clear what caused them to choke, he said, but within a minute the child was breathing comfortably again.
While they were helping the child, the school's nurse, the school resource officer and Vice Principal Dana DiLorenzo, all of whom Testa and Stapp had notified by walkie-talkie, arrived to assist. They escorted the child to the nurse's office and contacted the parents, officials said.
"It was just doing what we've been trained to do through the different trainings we've had," said Stapp, who said as a physical education teacher he receives training in CPR and other first aid measures.
While school cafeterias are notoriously noisy, Testa said that while the choking child was being helped, the other students in the room got quiet.
"I couldn't be more proud of the kids," she said. "They went silent and were so respectful."
"We hold our staff and students to a high standard," said Sarah Thiffault, principal at Ridgeway Elementary School. Teamwork — among staff and students — is emphasized at every turn and the teachers and support staff set the tone, she said.
"The students recognized something was going on and responded respectfully," Thiffault said. "That does not happen in a silo."
As the student who choked was walked to the nurse's office, DiLorenzo said Crystal Policastro, one of the school's anti-bullying specialists, spoke to the children who witnessed the incident.
"She rushed to the cafeteria to help," DiLorenzo said, "and reassured the students that everything would be OK with their classmate," acknowledging that seeing another child choking could be traumatizing for some students.
"We are honored to work with such great staff," Thiffault said.
"The Manchester Township School District is incredibly fortunate to have Ms. Testa and Mr. Stapp as a part of our team," the district said in a statement. "Their training and quick response not only saved a child's life but served as a powerful reminder of the importance for all staff members to remain prepared."
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