First Aid Corps

A 14-year-old girl from Wayland Middle School is in the hospital after she collapsed during gym class on Tuesday, said school officials.

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The girl was playing tag in her physical education class at about 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday when she collapsed, according to a statement from the Wayland Union Schools superintendent.

Staff used AED on collapsed teen girl: woodtv.com

She was not breathing, so school staff performed CPR and operated the AED (Automated External Defibrillator) until emergency personnel arrived on the scene.

“It was very calm,” said principal Carolyn Whyte. “But at the same time, it was very hectic. We were trying to make sure that we were making decisions and doing things as quickly as possible but at the same time, because of the number of people involved, we knew that we need to maintain control — and everyone did.”

“Whenever you go through any of those trainings, you hope that you never have to use it,” said Teresa Fulk, middle school assistant principal and district technology director. “But we’re definitely very grateful that we did have the training so that we knew exactly how to respond when the incident happened on Monday.”

The training, of course, did not change the fact that responding to a collapsed 14-year-old girl is difficult.

“It was,” Whyte said. “But knowing that she’s in a great place and she’s got great doctors and we’re all pulling for her, I’m glad that we were able to give her the chance that she has and that was all a result of training and help from the locals (emergency responders) and the AED.”

First responders arrived very quickly, she said.

The principal said that at least a dozen people played a role in the response, from making a phone call, to opening a door, to comforting staff.

The girl was taken to DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids for treatment and tests.

She is currently listed as in stable condition.

A 6-year-old boy is recovering after his heart stopped beating while at school Thursday.

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The student was taking part of a P.E. class outside at East Meadows Elementary School when he suddenly collapsed. But a two-minute response and life-saving training got his heart back in rhythm.

Logan Powell the Survivor

The boy is recovering at Primary Children’s Medical Center following the heroic efforts of those who first noticed him. His doctors say he’s still in critical condition, but his heart is beating on its own and he’s breathing on his own. He remains on oxygen as a precaution.

“Our main concern is for the student and their family,” said Nebo School District spokeswoman Lana Hiskey.

Friends were playing together when the young boy collapsed. One of the boy’s friends told the playground supervisor, who discovered the boy was not breathing and had no pulse.

“Our adult personnel moved quickly, called 911, and the emergency response vehicle got here very quickly,” Hiskey described. “(They) promptly took the student to a medical facility.”

The police got there in two minutes and tried to revive the boy with CPR, but only got a couple of breaths out of the boy. That’s when they used an Automated External Defibrillator to shock his heart back into action.

The boy was taken to the Payson Hospital before being airlifted to Primary Children’s Medical Center. Doctors still don’t know what made the boy go into cardiac arrest.

“Luckily, a lot of the students were in class,” Hiskey said.

The school sent a note home with all of the students to let parents know about the incident. It concludes by saying, “We are proud of the trained school staff that responded so well to the emergency.”

The boy’s aunt said the family is grateful to the P.E. teacher, the secretary and the Spanish Fork Polic Officer that saved the boy’s life.

The Nebo School District was already in the process of putting defibrillators in its schools before the Thursday’s event.

“We think it’s important to get those in every one of our schools,” Hiskey said.

An Evergreen High school teen is saved by an Automatic External Defibrillator after that teen goes into cardiac arrest.

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There was no sign or indication that Keilea Swearingen had any type of heart problems, but on Sept. 1 her heart stopped working and she stopped breathing.

It was only the second day of class at Evergreen when students were getting ready to roam the halls on their way to lunch, but in room 622 something caught teacher Bayley Lawrence’s attention.

“To me it looked like she was having a seizure and her body was going through motions,” said Bayley Lawrence, Keilea’s teacher.

Keilea,14, had fallen to the floor and was in and out of consciousness.

Lawrence quickly went to check on her while a student notified the office and within seconds, school nurse Debbie Fowler was on her way to the classroom.

When she got to it, she realized Keilea’s heart had stopped and her breathing was weak.

“So I get her in a sideline position and I could tell as soon as I turned her over her face was purple,” said Debbie Fowler, the school nurse.

As someone called 911 another staff member had grabbed the Automatic External Defibrillator and put it to use.

Fowler then started CPR, trying to keep Keilea alive as they waited for paramedics to arrive.

At the same time, Keilea’s mom was notified.

“When I got there they didn’t tell me everything and I walked into the situation seeing my daughter unresponsive on the ground,” said Crystal Swearingen, Keilea’s mom.

Keilea was taken to the hospital where she was in a medically induced coma.

But to everyone’s surprise she had enough after 36 hours and that’s when she woke up.

“I think it’s pretty amazing the whole chain. If one thing didn’t happen it could have ended differently,” said Keilea Swearingen, “So I think I’m very, very lucky.”

Keilea has always been very active and played a lot of sports.

Her mom calls her a fighter and a stubborn teen so it wasn’t too much of a surprise that after only six days in the hospital, Keilea was going home.

A few days later, she was back at school.

“The nurse and her teacher, they responded very quickly and it couldn’t have gone any better,” said Crystal.

When she returned to school it was very emotional day for those involved.

“When I went to hug her is when I realized the last time I had touched her I didn’t think she was going to make it,” said Fowler.

Keilea has to wear a vest that monitors her heart rate and provides an electric shock if she needs it.

She’s staying optimistic.

“My parents are supportive and I keep things in perspective. I mean it could be much worse I could not even be here,” said Keilea.

The Swearingens can’t stress enough how that AED saved her life.

The twelve year old, Kylee Shea, was on her way to gym class when she says she suddenly felt tired.

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“I decided to sit down, and then I fell forward and I don’t remember anything,” Shea said.

Frisco Teachers Save 7th Grader’s Life: MyFoxDFW.com

That’s when Shea collapsed and stopped breathing.

Her classmates called for help, and two teachers, Kristen Goodgion and Brent Reese immediately began performing CPR.

“Everything that’s in your mind is you’re just panicking. You see Kylee on the floor. She’s not responsive,” Reese said.

The CPR proved not to be enough and the teachers knew they needed to do more. On the wall near them was an automatic external defibrillator (AED) and luckily for Shea, both teachers had been trained to use it.

Later, doctors told her parents the AED had saved her life.

Shea had a heart arrhythmia, meaning her heart was beating rapidly but not pumping blood. Although they aren’t sure of the cause, she now has a pacemaker in case it ever happens again.

“It just goes to show the importance of having these devices…having the proper training to use them, said Kylee’s mother.

The seventh grader will return to school next week. Reese and Goodgion will be honored at a special assembly in honor of their life-saving work.

A Norwich father-of-two managed to cheat death after his heart stopped for nearly two minutes during a workout – thanks to the quick thinking of those around him.

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Staff at the Norfolk Health and Racquets Club, Drayton High Road, rushed to help fitness enthusiast Lyndon Green after he collapsed while he was racing his 13-year-old son on the rowing machine.

Lyndon Green the Survivor

After their swift use of a defibrillator to jump-start his heart back to life he spent two days unconscious in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and awoke… just as his grand-daughter Matilda was born.

Mr Green, who runs a social marketing company with his wife Maggie and lives on Mile End Road, to the west of the city, remembers nothing from the episode and had no history of heart failure until that day.

The 44-year-old said: “It was total shock when I found out what had happened as I am a relatively fit guy – I go to the gym twice a week, eat healthily and do all the right things, and then all of a sudden it hits you like a train.”

Now he has been back to thank gym staff for their life-saving efforts. He said: “I was in total awe of the staff and so grateful. It’s one thing training on a dummy but to save someone’s life is admirable.”

Mr Green was halfway through a workout alongside son Fraser when he collapsed, causing Fraser to cry out for help and rush to call an ambulance.

Swift to help him were three members of staff at the club, which is also known as the Esporta gym. These were Luke Matthews, David Loughlin, who performed CPR, and his colleague Helen Barnes, who brought out the centre’s defibrillator, which pumps a high quantity of volts through to the heart.

The sports centre’s general manager Neil Campbell, 39, explained that their swift actions would have been helped by a safety training session two weeks previously, introduced as part of wider safety measures after the gym was taken over by Virgin Active.

Of the life-saving day, which took place in three weeks ago, he said: “I got there just as paramedics arrived and we were standing over what could potentially have been a dead body with five paramedics who were there with him after we got the pulse started.

“It was about keeping everyone calm and trying to be of assistance of everyone who needed it. The gym staff did everything they should and it was an honour watching them save his life.”

Rushed from the scene at around 5.30pm and heavily sedated when he got into hospital, doctors were unsure whether he would make it, or if he would suffer brain damage.

But two days later, on Tuesday September 20 that he awoke – just as his 23-year-old daughter Carly Gerrard was giving birth at her home in Nelson Street, north Norwich.

His wife, Maggie Green was keen to emphasise the importance of defibrillators as a life-saving tool. The 42-year-old had kept vigil at his bedside and spoke of the moment she knew her husband had pulled through.

“He couldn’t speak at first so when he was coming round he rose his finger to let us know he knew where he was. I was holding his hand and said hello and asked if there was any chance he could squeeze it. He did, and it was a great moment.”

She added that they discovered shortly after that Matilda had been born at roughly the same time.

“It was scary at the time but they both came through and it was so exciting too. We didn’t see Matilda till a week later, but it was definitely a strange day.”

Mr Green plans to return to his normal regime within six months. “I’m fairly pragmatic about these things but it does make you how life is fragile and it’s important to have the right priorities. Because of what’s happened I’m looking more closely at the way I live.”