[Amelia]

They knew how to do Heimlich, but the student was very large & they couldn't get their arms around him.

More info here.

[redheadtoo]

...the student was very large & they couldn't get their arms around him.

It is more difficult to do the Heimlich on an obese person but not impossible. You use the same technique that you would use for a pregnant woman. The Heimlich can also be used on a person who is laying on the ground.

[wintertime]

If a person is obese, the Heimlich maneuver is done with the person lying on his back on the floor. If this is necessary, the person is already unconscious.

If the news report is true and only the technique of putting arms around the chest was used, then the teachers and students did not know how to the Heimlich.

If there were nurses at a blood drive, it is likely that they got there too late and brain damage had already occurred. Does it take you more than three minutes to run from the gym to a point farthest from there and back again. That is the time it would have taken students to run from the young man to the nurses, explained the problem to them and had them run back.

It is sad, but I hope the lesson learned from this tragedy is that some of those teacher prep days would be better spent in CPR and first aid training.

Hopefully, the health classes will stop pushing the condoms and start teaching basic CPR, first aid, and other sensible subjects as preventing dehydration, and safe food preparation.