Butler man uses quick thinking, CPR training to save life at restaurant
RICHLAND TWP, Allegheny County — It took just a moment for Joe Strobel to jump into action.
“It was your typical first-Steeler-game party,” the 53-year-old from Butler recalled. Strobel had stopped by the Scoreboard Restaurant and Lounge, on Route 8 near the Allegheny County line, to watch the game before work Sunday, Sept. 8.
“But then I saw the man next to me was choking,” he said.
Strobel, a custodian at Pine-Richland School District, said several women at the table started shouting, “He can’t breathe!”
That’s when Strobel’s CPR and first aid training kicked in.
“I placed my hand on my fist, grasped him around the waist, and pulled back strong four times,” he said. “The food was dislodged, and the man regained his composure.”
Scoreboard employee Renae Gaghan said it was a tense moment.
“It was scary,” Gaghan said. “Nothing like that has happened here before.”
Strobel, who works the “graveyard” shift at Pine-Richland High School, credits his quick response to the school district, which provides regular CPR and first aid training.
“If it wasn’t for that training, for the lessons I learned, the techniques, the knowledge, I don’t know what would have happened,” he said.
The district offers CPR and Heimlich training at least every two years, according to Erin Hasinger, the district’s communications director.
“We have two American Heart Association (Basic Cardiac Life Support)/Heartsaver instructors who work as nurses in the district, so we are able to offer the course more frequently than required by the public school code,” she said in an email.
Employees are not required to take the course, she said.
“Joe's readiness to act in this critical moment exemplifies the invaluable impact of continuous learning and emergency preparedness,” Hasinger said. “We're pleased to have been able to offer the training that led to him saving a life.”
Choking was the fourth-leading cause of unintentional death in the United States in 2022, accounting for 5,553 deaths, according to data from the National Safety Council. The incidence of choking deaths increases after age 71.
Strobel, a 1991 graduate of Butler Senior High School, also credits his family for instilling an ethos of service.
“My mom was a drug and alcohol nurse,” he said. “Twenty-seven years at Butler hospital. That’s how I learned to help others in need.”
Indeed, this isn’t the only time Strobel has helped others in his community.
Outside of work, Strobel runs The Mission: Hunting for Cancer, an effort that helps disabled military veterans and others who can no longer hunt due to cancer.
“I hunt for them,” he said. “I harvest the deer, have it processed and bring it to their house.”
Despite his actions Sunday, Strobel rejects the label of “hero.”
“Heroes are in the military. The first responders. The ones who lost their lives,” he said. “I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Strobel encourages others to get their training in CPR and first aid.
“You never know when you’ll need it,” he said. “You have to be ready to save someone’s life.”
