A Rutherford County school resource officer is being commended after he dislodged a piece of sandwich from a choking student at Siegel High School, allowing the teenager to breathe again after an emergency on campus. Deputy Matthew Arrington received a letter of commendation for his response, according to officials.
The student approached Arrington showing signs of choking, and the deputy began administering back blows to try to clear the obstruction, according to officials cited by WSMV. The student kept choking even as Arrington continued the technique, officials said, until he was able to dislodge a large piece of sandwich and clear the airway. Arrington then escorted the student to the school's medical office for additional care, per the same account.
Arrington serves as the Rutherford County school resource officer assigned to Siegel High School, a campus that opened in 2003 in Murfreesboro on land gifted by Richard Siegel and now enrolls nearly 1,900 students across grades 9 through 12, according to Wikipedia. He is a veteran of the sheriff's office, having reached 10 years of service in December 2018; Arrington has also served as a patrol deputy.
A Department With a History of Firsts
The Rutherford County Sheriff's Office established Tennessee's first School Resource Officer program in 1993, making it the first law enforcement agency in the state to place dedicated deputies on public school campuses, according to the Rutherford County Schools Facebook page.
Arrington's intervention echoes a broader pattern among Rutherford County deputies. SRO Matt Powell was named an Officer of the Month in 2020 after using back thrusts to save a choking elementary student, according to Rutherford Source. More recently, in February 2026, SRO Ali Albouhamed of the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office was named National SRO of the Month by the National Association of School Resource Officers after rescuing a student in crisis at Stewarts Creek High School.
Training and Protocol Behind the Response
Tennessee law requires every school resource officer assigned to a public school to complete 40 hours of POST-approved basic training in school policing within 12 months of placement, along with at least 16 hours of annual continuing education, under Tennessee Code § 49-6-4217.
Arrington's use of back blows aligns with updated American Heart Association and American Red Cross first aid guidelines, which call for alternating cycles of five back blows and five abdominal thrusts on responsive choking victims over age 1 until the obstruction clears, according to LP Health Directions.
