Const. Robin Chiasson — a former nurse — responded to a call at James Keating Public School to find school staff attempting CPR to revive the student.
Brandon Koskitalo the Survivor
Vice-principal Sarah Knight said students who had been playing with the boy rushed to the office to alert her after he collapsed.
“I asked the secretary to call 911, grabbed the automated external defibrillator (AED) and headed to the school yard with Shirley Taylor Banks, a board employee who is a registered nurse.
“We were joined by Arlene Spiess, an educational assistant. The officer was there within a minute of us starting procedures and took over.”
She and Const. Peter Hunter, who arrived seconds later, took over administering CPR and Chiasson used the chool’s automated external defibrillator to test the boy’s heart.
The machine indicated she should deliver an electric shock, then resume CPR, which she did, while Hunter assisted with restoring the boy’s breathing.
“As we continued the CPR, I could feel his heart suddenly start pounding and he began breathing,” Chiasson said.
Brandon Koskitalo, 13, was rushed to a hospital in Midland and transferred by air ambulance to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The boy reportedly had a history of cardiac illness.
Knight said yesterday that the student was in stable condition and that his family was with him.
Chiasson — who has three children — said there was “a moment when I envisaged this being my own child . . . you have the will that tells you not to give up; you do what you have to do.”
Chiasson said it was “amazing how the community came together as team. It was the most positive outcome we could hope for.”
Brandon, who underwent surgery to have an internal circadian pacemaker (ICP) placed in his chest in order to prevent a reoccurrence, said the incident let him know how severe his heart condition truly is.
“I hope that they put the AEDs in all the other schools because it can happen to anyone – parents, teachers, students.”
“Words are just not enough…. I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I am only here because (these people) did what they were supposed to do correctly. I am lucky to be here.”
