Training program set up after student chocking death

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A local mother wants to make sure her autistic son’s life is never forgotten.

Her son, 19-year-old Kedar Elijah Williams, choked on his lunch at William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens on Aug. 13, 2019.

In his memory, the Palm Beach County School District established a new training program for staff members who work with special needs students as part of a $2 million settlement.

Williams was part of the district’s Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program. He was non-verbal, and required one-on-one supervision, especially while eating, due to the risk of aspiration or choking on food.

The school district was providing that one-on-one paraprofessional to supervise Kedar, Baker-Barnes said. They had all the medical documents in their files, including a photo of Kedar on life support in 2015 after nearly choking to death at home. His mother, Megan Williams, provided it as a reminder of what could happen if he is by himself.

On the second day of school on Aug. 13, 2019, the aide assigned exclusively to Kedar was tending to another special needs student during lunch and it was all caught on school security video, Baker-Barnes said.

“You can see the attendant with his back to Kedar. Kedar gets up and walks to the window. He sits on the floor. Then, he sits down at the table. He starts eating, and then he starts choking. He falls out of the chair to the floor,” Baker-Barnes explained.

As part of a $2 million settlement from the school district, leaders this week approved a program that will require all principals, employees and staff members who care for special needs students to watch that same security video as part of the new training.

That training will begin in the fall.

The program is called Kedar Elijah Williams Exceptional Student Education Training Program in his honor.

“You can see the attendant with his back to Kedar. Kedar gets up and walks to the window. He sits on the floor. Then, he sits down at the table. He starts eating, and then he starts choking. He falls out of the chair to the floor,” Baker-Barnes explained.

So, it sounds like it wasn’t just momentarily that the one-on-one attendant wasn’t providing care to Kedar. It was the second day of school in August.

Maybe the training spent so much time on HIPAA privacy and so on and so forth. And maybe a mountain of paperwork a new employee needed to sign and go through, that they didn’t really emphasize, hey, this is one-on-one, you realize that, right? Especially when eating, or as your client is getting ready to eat.

Maybe it was boredom. You have to be kind of a zen master just to hang with one student. It makes the job more interesting to dive in and help multiple kids. Well, you can’t do that, not in these circumstances.

And since I’m a big believer in first aid:



Please notice that it’s both blows to the back and the Heimlich Maneuver.

And often you have to fight to save the person’s life. Five upward abdominal thrusts from the Heimlich Maneuver, five blows to the back, keep alternating, keep fighting. Have faith that it will eventually work.

If it’s not working, you’re naturally going to go harder, which is a good thing. Break ribs if you need to. Fight for the person’s life and win.

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Do a gentle chin lift. Yes, this one you do gently. Use the light on your phone to look in the person’s mouth. Do a finger sweep of the mouth.

If you see or feel anything, see if you can get it out.

If not, go back to back blows and Heimlich Maneuver.



You can also do the Heimlich Maneuver when the person is on the floor, or another hard surface such as on their back on a table.

And it’s surprisingly low, like maybe just an inch above the belly button.

Thanks for posting the how to do the Heimlich manuver, though is pointless to point out to teachers and student aides. All school employees have to hold current CPR and first aid training to work. I was first certified by my home ec teacher who was the school's instructor.

The story is extremely upsetting. RIP to that student, and condolences to his family.

I choked on a fat, crescent-shaped slice of celery when I was about 17. I was in a restaurant. At first I thought I was OK although I could barely breathe. I was embarrassed to make a scene so I made my way to the ladies' room. I coughed enough that it moved and became stuck deeper in my throat. A waitress happened to see me and followed me in, just as I was passing out. She did the Heimlich and probably saved my life. My point is that it was a good 2-3 minutes in my estimation.