'He's Turning Blue': School Officer's Heroic Actions Save Student

EMERSON, GA — The quick actions of many, including a Bartow County school resource officer, saved the life of an 11-year-old Red Top Middle School student this week. It happened Tuesday when school administrators heard four horrific words over the static of a two-way radio: "Hurry, he's turning blue."

The call came from the school cafeteria, school officials said. They ran there and found Officer Duane Smith, the school resource officer, performing the Heimlich maneuver on sixth grade student Ethan Hamrick in an attempt to dislodge a water bottle cap blocking his airway.

“I knew if I thrust him on the back, there was a possibility that the cap could have moved further down and not up,” Smith said in a statement from the school. “So, I performed about 14 abdominal thrusts and I believe that turned the cap sideways, allowing him to breathe a little.”

Head Nurse Annette Lively was also in the cafeteria, performing life-saving measures on Ethan while an ambulance was called. Working together, the cap finally was dislodged.

Smith wasn't the only hero on duty that day. Ethan's classmate, Rudra Parmar, was eating lunch and laughing with Ethan when he started to choke. The quick-thinking sixth-grader ran to a teacher and Smith to tell them what was happening.

In an email to Bartow County School System Superintendent Phillip Page, Bartow County Campus Police Chief Randall Burch recommended a life-saving award for Smith’s actions.

“Officer Smith, as most police officers, does not cater to attention,” Burch said in the school's statement. “However, sometimes, in the performance of one’s duty, it requires attention.”

According to school officials, Ethan was treated and released from a local hospital. The day came to a close with an emotional reunion between the Hamrick family and Smith. While the family was able to get a photo of Ethan and Smith together, Smith said he will never need a photograph to remember the day.

“I’m just glad Ethan will recover and be back in class Thursday,” Smith said. “I wasn’t even supposed to be there that day, but I’m glad I was in the right place at the right time.”