First Aid Corps

A father in his mid-50s who collapsed on his way to watch his daughter’s softball game at Lakeland High School on Wednesday was brought back to life by a trainer and a coach using a portable defibrillator.

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The father, who had lost consciousness and wasn’t breathing when Lakeland athletic trainer Amanda Tiffany and John Jay High School lacrosse coach Patrick Chiappetta rushed to his aid, was recovering in stable condition Thursday at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, school officials said.

“There is a family that is not mourning the loss of a father today because people acted, and that is heavy stuff,” said Chiappetta’s boss, Christian McCarthy, the athletic director for the Katonah-Lewisboro school district. “Their decision to act saved a life, and there is no greater classroom lesson than that.”

It was one of those busy after-school weekdays in spring with multiple games in progress across a single campus, and scores of spectators, players and school officials on the scene.

The man was headed to the junior varsity softball game and was just outside the fence surrounding the school’s all-purpose athletic field when everything stopped. MaryLu Fiori, a Lakeland field monitor, saw the man collapse and yelled for help.

“I knew my AED was at the end of the bench so I grabbed it and I ran as fast as I could across the field,” said Chiappetta, 29, John Jay’s junior varsity girls lacrosse coach and a father of two. “He was in bad shape, on his back, so I hopped the fence and the Lakeland trainer already had his shirt pulled up.”

“I opened my AED and the trainer put the pads on him and pushed the button,” Chiappetta said .

The device can scan for irregular heartbeats and deliver a shock to restore a healthy rhythm. It was enough to bring the man, whom officials declined to identify, back to consciousness.

As Tiffany and Chiappetta were at the man’s side, Yorktown police Officer Larry Paniccia, the school’s resource officer, called 911 and joined in the lifesaving efforts. Mohegan Lake ambulance responded and took him from the scene.

“He is awake and speaking with his family,” Lakeland High School Principal Lorrie Yurish said Thursday. “The family is so grateful.”

The man, believed to be in his 50s, was at the side of the Sheringham pitch, behind the Splash Leisure and Fitness Centre, on Saturday while his 11 year old played in an under-12s match for Horsford Youth Football Club.

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The man, believed to be in his 50s, was at the side of the Sheringham pitch, behind the Splash Leisure and Fitness Centre, on Saturday while his 11 year old played in an under-12s match for Horsford Youth Football Club.

Just a few minutes after the 10.30am kick-off he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.

Eyewitnesses said two parents performed CPR and another spectator ran into the leisure centre and returned with a defibrillator and staff from the centre, who usaed it to bring him back to life.

The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) arrived at 10.40am just minutes before paramedics in a land ambulance and rapid response vehicle and Community First Responders.

He was airlifted to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where he was conscious and in a “stable condition”, according to an EAAA spokesman.

She said: “Thanks to a quick-thinking member of the public who immediately started CPR and someone close by with a defibrillator, this patient was conscious when we arrived. This man could very well have these people to thank for saving his life and it just proves how important first aid knowledge is.”

Stuart Smith, 49, from Sheringham, who was preparing a cricket pitch at the time, said: “My understanding is his heart stopped. There was a real community spirit. The spectators must have done a sterling job and looked after him. It was a bit of a shock for the younger players.”

The Horsford team was playing East Coast Warriors under-12s, based on the pitch run by Sheringham and District Sports Association, but the game was abandoned after the emergency.

Dale Webster, 22, manager of the Horsford team, said it was key everyone in sport should know how to use a defibrillator.

“They are a lot of money but save people’s lives. It is something the Norfolk Football Association should look into introducing to sports teams,” he said.

Mr Webster, who looked after the children, including the man’s son, added: “His son was in bits but I spoke to the parents who were not at all panicked and were calm.”

Eddie Copeman, manager of East Coast Warriors, said: “It was a fantastic team effort, It was pure luck there were people at the match who knew what they were doing. They were in command.”

The leisure centre, run by DC leisure, has had a defibrillator since 2005 and staff are regularly trained how to use it.

Chairman of Sheringham and District Sports Association, Charles Sanders, said: “It must have been very distressing, especially his son.”

He added all clubs who played on the ground were first aid trained but he would be bringing up the issue of the importance of community defibrillators at the committee’s next meeting in a fortnight.

An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We’d like to thank all those involved for their prompt actions.

“Using the skills they did at the earliest stage gave him the best possible chance of life by getting the heart working again, and it was of such great value to the crews who delivered intense, advanced life-saving skills at the scene and on to hospital.

“The more people learn life-saving skills, the better, because every second counts in these situations.”

The father remained in hospital last night.

A high-school softball player found the mandatory CPR class she took the day came in handy — she used her new skills to save a teammate’s life.

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Taylor Bisbee and her friends on the High Point, N.C.,Wesleyan Academy softball team were doing some base running. Suddenly eighth-grader Paris White collapsed.

Taylor Bisbee the Saviour

“It was scary to see her fall like that. Cause I wasn’t expecting it,” Bisbee told MyFox8.

One of White’s teammates dialed 911. But Bisbee was the one who immediately jumped into action and started performing CPR.

“I just knelt down next to her and I just started,” Bisbee said.

“It was really scary for me because it was the difference between life and death.”

Minutes later, staff arrived on the scene with a defibrillator to get White’s heart beating again, according to Coach Donald Brewer.

An ambulance took White to Duke University Hospital. It is unclear what caused the young girl’s collapse, but she is expected to make a full recovery.

The experience has encouraged the fast-thinking Bisbee to pursue a career in medicine.

A Jessie Clark Middle School student was upgraded from serious to fair condition early Wednesday after collapsing during a baseball drill Monday afternoon.

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Meanwhile, Fayette County Public Schools officials said the student received prompt treatment in accordance with established emergency action plans.

Benjamin Highland the Survivor

“How it was handled with the trainer and coaches … everything was done as it should have been done,” Fayette Schools athletics director Don Adkins said during a news conference at the school district’s central office.

Benjamin Highland, an eighth-grader at Jessie Clark, collapsed about 5:30 p.m. Monday on the baseball field at Lafayette High School, where he was participating in conditioning drills in preparation for tryouts for Lafayette’s baseball team later this month. Highland apparently planned to try out, district officials said.

Highland was rushed to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, where he was reported in critical condition Tuesday morning. His condition was upgraded to serious Tuesday afternoon.

Fayette high schools director Mike McKenzie said a veteran high school trainer, various Lafayette coaches and passersby pitched in to help when the boy was stricken.

The trainer, Jenni Williams, directed coaches to dial 911, treated Highland with an external defibrillator and then administered CPR while waiting for an ambulance to arrive, he said. A nurse who lives in the area and was out walking her dog saw what was happening and rushed in to help with CPR, while an off-duty police officer at the scene helped by making sure the ambulance could get onto the ballfield quickly, according to McKenzie.

District officials were trying to get the nurse’s name so they could thank her.

“It really was a team effort by a lot of people on the sidelines who jumped in and helped out,” he said.

McKenzie particularly credited Williams, a veteran trainer. Williams, who serves the school district under a contract with UK, was declining comment Tuesday, university officials said.

“With the adrenalin and emotion after such an event, she was pretty shook for a while last night,” McKenzie said. “She’s fine. But in the moments after such a situation where you’ve just helped a young person survive … .

“In talking with her last night … we thanked her and told her job well done. Her first response was, ‘It was a team effort.’”

Meanwhile, Fayette middle schools director Kelley Ransdell said the district sent support staff to Jessie Clark on Tuesday morning to help faculty members in offering support to students arriving for classes. Eighth-grade teachers spent extra time with their homeroom students Tuesday morning to explain what had happened and make counseling available if requested, Ransdell said.

“District support staff … reported to me this morning that things were going really well and that students were already in the mode of preparing some get-well cards,” she said.

Ransdell said Jessie Clark students were “really concerned” about their stricken classmate, “as we all are.”

According to Fayette school district officials, Highland and at least six other eighth-graders were participating in the drills Monday when the incident occurred.

It is not unusual for talented eighth-grade players to try out for high school baseball teams. At least 10 eighth-graders were on Lafayette’s roster last year, according to the school’s Web site.

The conditioning drills at Lafayette had been going on for several days, according to district officials.

McKenzie said he didn’t know the specific kind of drills that being used Monday. But he said no “hard-running activity” was involved. According to Ransdell, the drills already had started Monday afternoon when the middle school students arrived and started to take part.

McKenzie said the players had completed a drill and were transitioning to another when Highland collapsed. “One of the kids yelled ‘Coach;’ they looked over and saw a young man start to go down,” he said.

According to McKenzie, Lafayette head baseball coach Chris Langston rushed to Highland’s side and “determined immediately that they needed the trainer and called the trainer who was just inside the gym.”

When Williams arrived, she directed an assistant coach to dial 911 and sent another to bring the defibrillator. She then began CPR, McKenzie said.

McKenzie said he didn’t know how long CPR was administered before an ambulance arrived. He also said he didn’t know how long the conditioning drills had been going on before the boy collapsed.

In four years on the Rudder varsity football team, David Wilganowski watched hours of game video, reviewing countless plays with teammates and coaches in pursuit of improvement.

David Wilganowski the Survivor

But he had never seen anything like what happened in the Rangers’ game against Leander Rouse three weeks ago.

“I’ve watched it plenty of times,” Wilganowski said. “It’s eerie, but it doesn’t bother me. What am I going to do? It happened.”

What happened at Merrill Green Stadium on the night of Sept. 2 changed Wilganowski’s life. But his life didn’t end, thanks to medical personnel with the necessary equipment and training.

Wilganowski collapsed on the field in the fourth quarter of a tied game and went into cardiac arrest. Rudder trainer Jamie Woodall and her staff used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to restart Wilganowski’s heart. He was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph Regional Health Center, then later that night was flown by helicopter to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

Eleven days later at Scott & White Hospital in Temple, Wilganowski underwent surgery in which a defibrillator was placed in his chest. He was released from the hospital and visited Rudder’s football practice the next day, and two days after that he was on the sideline cheering for his teammates as they played Houston C.E. King last Friday in their first game back at Merrill Green Stadium since the incident.

Wilganowski’s memory of his final game is like a video with a segment deleted. He remembers everything before the game, through three quarters and into the fourth period. Wilganowski does not remember the defensive series when Rudder forced the punt play after which he collapsed.

Woodall remembers that play. As is her habit, Woodall scanned the field, checking to make sure all the players got up. The last player she saw was Wilganowski, far from the football, toppling forward like a giant tree, unable to extend his arms to cushion the fall.

“I didn’t wait for a referee’s signal or anything,” Woodall said. “I ran out there. He was having trouble breathing, and when we turned him over he took his last breath.”

Woodall tears up at the memory. She and Bryan trainer Josh Woodall, her husband, are committee members of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. Even before Nader’s incident, the Woodalls made sure there were AEDs at Bryan and Consolidated. Woodall was an assistant trainer with the Tigers when Nader collapsed.

“Knowing that behind me there were all these BISD employees making those phone calls and taking care of those things like getting the gates opened and barricades removed … knowing that was going on behind me was very comforting.” Woodall said.

Rudder assistant trainer Mike Lozano used scissors to remove Wilganowski’s jersey and shoulder pads. Woodall applied the AED, which works automatically and is different from the paddle-style device that most people picture when they think of defibrillators.

The crowd fell silent as the slender young woman began chest compression on the player, with some fans openly praying. Woodall had never used an AED to revive anyone.

“Every experience I’ve had as well as every training I’ve ever been in certainly prepared me for that moment,” Woodall said. “I’m very, very proud to say that in both incidents, with Matt and David, there was good protocol, there was preparation and there were athletic trainers on site to get those things rolling in the right direction.”

Woodall makes sure to share credit for Wilganowski’s treatment. She invited all 17 of Rudder’s student trainers to the Bryan school board meeting Tuesday when she and her staff were honored for helping Wilganowski.

“It is a good recognition for athletic trainers and that’s what I would like for people to take from this,” Woodall said. “Not just that proper protocol was followed, but that there were trained professionals there. Not everybody has that. There are many stories of people who didn’t make it, where there were no athletic trainers or AEDs, or if there were, no one thought to go get it.”

“I don’t feel cheated at all, because I’m still here,” Wilganowski said. “I do feel like I didn’t get as much accomplished as I wanted to, but I can do more with this [experience] than I could with football.

“I have mechanical engineering down [as my major]. Who knows? Some day I could be designing these,” he said, tapping his chest over the defibrillator.

Wilganowski hopes his story will help spread the word about the importance of having AEDs at athletic competitions and of training school personnel to handle life-threatening situations.