Child

Recreation Centre Staff Save Teenager at Basketball Game

Posted by cocreator on August 03, 2009
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Ester Marsh, associate executive director of the Salisbury Y, was working outside on some back fields when her radio said the staff was needed for an emergency in the gymnasium.

19-year-old Travis Correll was lying on his side.

Someone already had called 911, and Executive Director Sandy Flowers had arrived with “the suitcase,” which contains the AED, oxygen and other first-aid items.

“I wasn’t happy with the way he was,” Marsh recalled Saturday. She used what she called a judo technique to turn the 6-4, 250-pound Correll onto his back.

She realized there was no pulse and no rising and falling of his chest — he wasn’t breathing.

Marsh started CPR compressions — 30 pushes and two breaths per cycle — while John Peterson prepared the oxygen and Randa and Barbara Franklin readied the AED.

“We all really meshed together,” Marsh said.

The staff communicated without words. Marsh was thinking Correll’s shirt should come off, and Peterson was already cutting it with scissors. She completed the job by just ripping it open.

With the AED pads attached, the words “shock advised” only confirmed what the Y staff knew: Correll was in trouble.

This was the moment of truth they had all trained for.

The group around Correll made sure they were clear, and Mary Jane Randa pushed the button.

Correll’s body jerked from the electric jolt.

The AED’s next words were just as urgent: “Continue CPR.”

After the first shock, Marsh went back to CPR, seemingly pounding on Correll’s chest.

As Marsh was ending her fourth cycle of compressions and breaths, an emergency responder took over and EMS attached its own AED to the Y’s setup.

Again, a shock was advised. After the second jolt, Correll’s heartbeat and breathing returned, and once that happened, EMS wanted to transport as soon as possible.

Travis said he wasn’t fully aware of where he was and what happened to him until three days after he collapsed. By then he was on the cardiac floor at Presbyterian and cognizant that he didn’t really like the food.

Correll said he felt tired that day after playing basketball and told someone he was going to sit down on the bleachers.

“And that’s the last I remember,” he said.

Eight days after his heart stopped, he had his new defibrillator and was going home. Travis walked out on his own, refusing a wheelchair.

When he entered the car to go home, his mother, Wilhemina Lowry, broke down in tears of thankfulness.

“That was the roughest part,” Travis said.

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Coach, Nurse & Paramedics Save Teenager during Swim

Posted by cocreator on August 01, 2009
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Jordan has no memory of the morning he nearly died at Goodson Rec Center on July 7 while training for his second triathlon of the summer. But his coach, Nick Frasersmith, recalls every detail and the fear he felt.

Jordan Myhre the Survivor

Jordan Myhre the Survivor

“It was a regular practice,” he said. “There was no sign of anything different from any other day.”

Jordan had just finished the last set, touching the wall before anyone else, and gone straight into warm-down.

Suddenly, Frasersmith noticed that Jordan was swimming crooked. He saw him flip over on his back and sensed something wasn’t right.

Frasersmith yelled to another swimmer to pull Jordan to the side of the pool and raced over.

As the lifeguard called 911, a woman — a nurse arriving for a water aerobics class — offered to help.

They couldn’t find a pulse, so they started CPR. The coach did rescue breathing while the nurse performed the compressions.

The lifeguard rushed over with the AED, an automated defibrillator that detected that the rhythm of Jordan’s heart indicated the need for a shock. They wiped his body dry, applied the pads and began that work.

“It was very surreal,” Frasersmith said. “The weird part was why he was in this situation. It’s not like he hit his head or slipped and fell. I thought, ‘Breathe, wake up, do something.‘ ”

They shocked his heart twice before paramedics arrived.

“It was very scary,” Frasersmith said. “He did not look like he was going to make it.”

“It was the most horrifying, terrible thing that could happen to our son, but it happened in the perfect surroundings,” said his mother, Teresa Myhre.

“I feel fine, just like before,” Jordan said. “The only difference is this thing in my chest.”

Jordan Myhre's Pacemaker

Jordan Myhre's Pacemaker

He left the hospital with a pacemaker and a defibrillator, along with a diagnosis of Long QT syndrome, a rare heart-rhythm disorder that can cause fast, chaotic heartbeats.

“I can’t believe I made it this long without anything else happening,” said Jordan, a lifelong athlete who said he loves to push his physical limits.

Learning of his diagnosis, Jordan’s older sister had herself tested for Long QT syndrome and discovered she also has it. She believes that his experience saved her life.

As for Jordan, his biggest challenge right now is taking it easy. He takes walks around the neighborhood but thinks the strolls are “boring.”

As for Jordan, his biggest challenge right now is taking it easy. He takes walks around the neighborhood but thinks the strolls are “boring.”

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Father & Doctor Save Young Basketball Player

Posted by cocreator on February 26, 2009
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Sometime on Saturday night, Jan. 24, at the Delbarton School basketball court in Morristown, N.J., hearts stopped.

Well, just one actually stopped, but many others skipped a beat at least. Poly Prep’s starting senior point guard and leader on both ends of the court, Stephen Lazzaro, suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during the opening quarter. “It was quite scary,” said assistant coach Glenn McCartney, who helped Lazzaro to the gym floor.

CPR, administered rapidly by Stephen’s dad and teammate Michael Kumar’s dad, Sampath Kumar M.D., both physicans, plus a defibrillator on the scene saved this young man’s life.

A Fund in the name of Stephen Lazzaro has been set up at SUNY Downstate for the purpose of raising monies for cardiovascular research to study valvular heart disease and arrhythmias.

Stephen has turned his attention from playing to helping the team by acting as a mentor to the younger players while helping Head Coach Bill McNally on the bench. He has been an inspiration to many while he rehabilitates from these recent events.

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Asst Principal & Coaches Save 11 Year Old Student

Posted by cocreator on December 05, 2008
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Soto, a sixth-grader, had no idea his heart was in trouble until he collapsed on September 26 on his way to first period.

                             

Williams rushed to Soto’s side when he found out he was in trouble.

When we rolled him over, he took his last breath,” Williams said.

Williams immediately began CPR and called for the school’s automated external defibrillator — commonly called an A.E.D. With the help of four of the school’s coaches — Merrick Sims, Brad Jackson, Tim Mantooth and Clarence Green — Williams got Soto hooked up to the A.E.D., which said Soto required a shock to get his heart back in action.

“As soon as the shock wave went off, he started gasping for another breath,” Williams said. “And I was able to find a pulse coming.”

“I had not doubt we were gonna get Bernardo through this,” Williams said. “No doubt.”

When asked about Mr. Williams’ actions, Soto said, “I feel happy that he did that for me.”

At Children’s Sibley Heart Center, Soto was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

“This was a divine moment and divine timing,” said Assistant Principal Greg Williams. “I feel great every time I see him. It was a meant-to-be moment.”

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Certified Firefighter & Nurse Save 10 Year Old Boy

Posted by cocreator on December 04, 2008
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Isaiah Saved

Isaiah Saved

A 10-year-old Stamford boy went into full cardiac arrest Tuesday after colliding with another child at school.

Officials said the incident occurred at 11 a.m. at Heart Magnet School in Stamford.

They said Gerard Sangermano, a custodian who was CPR-certified in firefighter training, began administering CPR on fourth-grader Isaiah Walden Butler. They said school nurse Tomasena Smikle was summoned and used a defibrillator to resuscitate the child.

We got a pulse, then the fire trucks arrived,” Sangermano said.

The boy was rushed to Stamford Hospital and his mother, Doris Walden, was called at work. She was given a police escort to the hospital.

“We flew up there running red lights, crying hysterically,” Walden said.

Isaiah was later taken by LIFESTAR to Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital.

Hospital officials said Isaiah is recovering in the pediatric ICU. They said Isaiah could be released by the end of the week.

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High School Basketball Player Saved

Posted by cocreator on December 01, 2008
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Taylor DeRoo Saved

Taylor DeRoo Saved

Northview basketball coach Trevor Chalmers said DeRoo collapsed between scrimmages, and started to have seizures. Northview’s sports medicine trainer assisted until rescuers responded to a 911 call.

A spectator, Tyler Hale, a 17-year-old Northview senior, said it was difficult to watch the player suffer.

No one was sure what was happening, he said. “After he stopped breathing, that was when everybody realized how serious it was,” he said.

Rescuers did cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and used a defibrillator at the scene, a witness said.

Blomeling-DeRoo, a medical social worker, was doing some holiday shopping last Friday when she got a call from Holland’s varsity coach Steve Windemuller.

Taylor is the last of my kids you could imagine something like this happening to,” she said. “He gets a physical every year because of sports and rarely catches a cold.”

Taylor DeRoo, a junior, was listed in critical condition at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.

Updated 5th December 2008

But their miracle dawned Sunday night, Blomeling-DeRoo said. While being encouraged at his hospital bedside by Holland JV basketball coach Paul Chapman, Taylor, although heavily sedated, opened his eyes.

He responded to his mother’s voice, squeezed a nurse’s hand on command, and said, “Hello.”

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Principal & Teachers Save Student

Posted by cocreator on November 12, 2008
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Levi Pocza Saved

Levi Pocza Saved

When 13-year old Levi Pocza collapsed, PE teacher Chris Broderick ran to call 9-1-1.

When I came back into the room the other teacher said Levi didn’t have a pulse,” Broderick said.

Broderick started CPR, doing the breaths while principal Prato Baronee did the compressions.

Football coach Scott Hagerman — freshly trained in using the school’s automated external defibrillator, or AED — rushed it into the gym.

“It actually administered the shock, bringing him back to CPR state, and it said resume CPR and that’s what we did,” Broderick said.

For at least 10 minutes, they kept Levi alive until medics arrived and airlifted Levi to Children’s Hospital. As far as doctors can tell, Levi suffered no brain damage.

And Levi’s grateful parents say the AED and trained teachers are the reason.

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Instructor & Cops Save 13 Year Old at Karate Lesson

Posted by cocreator on November 11, 2008
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.The 13-year-old, whose name was not released by police, was participating in exercises at Shin Karate Institute on the 2400 block of South Broad Street around 11:30 a.m. In front of his class and without warning, he fell to the floor unresponsive.

Karate instructor Sue Sienkiewicz could not detect the boy’s pulse, and she began performing CPR as a 911 call was made. Arriving on the scene moments later in advance of paramedics were officers Ryan Burger, Robert Colletti and Christopher Pullen.
 
The boy’s mother was notified, and immediately returned to the studio. Her son was taken to Capital Health System at Mercer.

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Father Saves Son at Basketball Practice

Posted by cocreator on November 09, 2008
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

During the basketball drill at a recreation centre in Cochrane, the young Rosenau dove for the ball and attempted to get up but his legs didn’t work.

“I crawled a few feet and then I collapsed,” he said.

When Lorne Rosenau, the boy’s dad, who’s also the coach, saw the immobile lad lying on the floor, he thought his son was just faking it. The dad’s effort to rouse the boy was futile. He noticed a cut on the boy’s chin, but didn’t see blood flowing from it and there was very little blood on the floor.

“That was the first red flag,” said the man, who teaches at Western Canadian high school.

Then, he made this ugly sound of breath.”

The boy’s skin was starting to turn blue when the dad checked for a pulse. There was none.

He began performing CPR on his son, while somebody else brought in an automated external defibrillator.

“You really have no emotion at the time,” says Lorne. “You just do it. I think the building around me could’ve burned down and I wouldn’t have known.

“He didn’t have a heart beat for 26 minutes,” said the older Rosenau. Paramedics arrived and took over the resuscitation efforts.

“I did what it took. I just feel fortunate that I was there and I knew what to do,” he says. “Curtis and I have a closer bond now. Between him and me, we kind of know. It’s special.”

“You’ll never know when it may help save your own family member,” said the dad.

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School Saves 11 Year Old Student

Posted by cocreator on October 23, 2008
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We will be reporting on lives saved around the world since our first documented life saved here in Singapore.

Kenzie Sikora

Kenzie Sikora

The incident happened after school at Paddock Elementary School. Kenzie was headed back inside the school when she collapsed just inside the front door October 21st. Principal James Otto was nearby and saw Kenzie fall. ”Kenzie was prone face down,” said Otto. “Knelt down to Kenzie and asked her if she could hear me. Made the decision that she couldn’t.” 

“I immediately started CPR and aspirations and to just kind of get her going because I knew something was wrong,” said Bridwell. “She wasn’t breathing. She was purple. Something was definitely wrong.” After 911 was called, he and sixth-grade teacher April Bridwell performed CPR.

School secretary Peggy Albertsen then hooked up the school’s automatic external defibrillator (AED) and used it to get Kenzie’s heart beating properly again. 

The machine said the girl’s heart needed an electric shock and it shocked her before paramedics arrived.

The girl was taken by ambulance to a hospital. School officials say the child is feeling better and continuing to recover.

Latest Updates (11/11/2008)

Kenzie Sikora, who collapsed at Paddock Road Elementary School three weeks ago returned to class on Monday.

“It feels great being back and seeing all my friends and how ecstatic they are to see me,” said Kenzie.

Kenzie doesn’t remember anything from that day except waking up in the hospital. “I’m just happy that I still have my life. God was with me through the whole thing and that the school had a defibrillator and that there were teachers here that knew CPR.”

Sikora’s mom, Jeanette Sikora, said she remembered everything.

“I was at work, I received a phone call saying, ‘Kenzie has fallen. We’re calling 911. How soon can you get here?”

“If this school hadn’t been prepared with the training and Mr. Otto and Mrs. Bridwell and Mrs. Albertsen, they’re our heroes. They saved my daughter’s life. But she may have still encountered damage had it not been for that AED machine being here.”

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