His mom, Ebony Holloway, a nurse in the post-anesthesia care unit at UC Medical Center, didn’t think it was all that funny.
She did think, however, it was an excellent time to teach Camerin about the Heimlich maneuver.
The Heimlich maneuver, also called abdominal thrusts, pushes air out of someone’s lungs to force a person to cough and move an unwanted object out of their airway.
“If you see somebody choking for real, this is what you need to do,” she told Camerin.
On that June evening in their College Hill home, with dinner on the stove, Ebony taught Camerin how to save a life.
Just four days later, Camerin was on a field trip at a local area pool, noticed a boy gasping for air on the side of the pool, and rushed over.
Camerin administered the Heimlich maneuver, the maneuver his mom taught him just four days earlier. After a couple of thrusts, the boy was breathing again.
When he got home later that afternoon, he exclaimed the news to his mom.
“I am extremely proud. I’m just so happy he actually listened to me … as a result, a boy’s life was saved,” said Ebony, who just recently celebrated her 10-year-work anniversary at UC Medical Center.
Joyce Chase, Ebony’s manager in the post-anesthesia care unit, said, “What a wonderful experience for all involved. Ebony is so incredibly proud of her son. I am fortunate to be her manager because she provides patient care with grace and humor.”
Our nurses’ commitment to service extends beyond the walls of our hospitals. Ebony teaching her son the Heimlich maneuver is a great example of UC Health’s purpose to advance healing and reduce suffering for the city of Cincinnati and beyond.