First Aid Corps

On Feb. 2, 16-year-old Vacaville High School student Pedro Medina was sitting in Don Lopez’s Spanish class as if it were any other day when he lost consciousness and fell out of his seat.

Pedro Medina the Survivor

Pedro says he doesn’t remember much besides waking up in a hospital bed at Children’s Hospital in Oakland, but said he was shocked to hear what had happened.

“It’s crazy. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like I skipped a couple of days in my life,” Pedro said.

“I thought I was healthy. I didn’t think this could happen,” he added.

Staff and students on the other hand recall the situation quite well.

“The chaos was spontaneous, but so was the student response to the situation,” Lopez said.

While Lopez said it is against the rules to have a cell phone in his classroom, he praised senior Elizabeth Nefzger for getting hers out and calling 911 right away. Sitting next to one of the two classroom exits, sophomore Bryce Campbell took charge of getting everyone out of the classroom in an orderly fashion while paramedics were en route.

“It could have come out differently. Everybody acted like adults, like a community that cared about (Pedro’s) health,” Lopez said.

Vice Principal Rayito Farris said that it took everyone from the students to the paramedics to doctors working together to help Pedro.

The school resource officer performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Within minutes, members of the Vacaville Fire Department were on scene.

Staff applaud the students for the way they conducted themselves and paramedics for their fast response.

Farris said that had Pedro been on his own when his heart stopped, there could have been a very different outcome. In cases like this, there is a 20 percent chance of survival, she said, and that usually hinges upon how fast the patient can get medical attention.

Pedro, who was taken by paramedics to VacaValley Hospital and subsequently airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Oakland, suffered from what is called the long QT syndrome – a rare heart condition that didn’t present itself until that day.

“The timing was impeccable. The paramedics were here within minutes and that contributed to his survival,” Farris said.

On Tuesday, Farris and Pedro stopped by Vacaville Fire Department Station 71 to say thank you to the firefighter/paramedics who helped save his life.

“It’s good to see a positive outcome,” said Battalion Chief Brian Moore. Along with Moore, Capt. Eric Ceremony and a handful of other firefighter/paramedics who responded to Pedro’s condition stood around the station with Pedro retelling the story.

Sprinkled amongst jokes about not having to bring a doctor’s note to prove his illness, the fire crew also told Pedro how lucky he was to be alive.

Moore said that when they respond to calls like Pedro’s, the outcome is not so good. Luckily for Pedro, the fire department was on scene within minutes. Being an otherwise healthy teenager, his recovery was quick, according to Moore.

Matt Moreno, a firefighter/paramedic, was the first medic on scene. A Vacaville High School graduate himself, Moreno talked to Pedro about taking advantage of his second chance at life. Before Pedro left, Moreno had talked him into doing a ride-along with Battalion 71 and encouraged him to think about firefighting as a career.

“Not too many people who have walked in your shoes get a second chance. Make sure you take advantage of it,” Moreno said.

“Your heart just sinks when you look back and see one of your students lying on the floor, but the paramedics did an awesome job,” Farris said.

While Pedro said he’s a little bummed that he wasn’t conscious to enjoy his first helicopter ride, he’s thankful to be back at school.

“It feels good to be back. It’s better than being in the hospital,” Pedro said.

As the West Windsor/Plainsboro High School student collapsed due to sudden cardiac arrest during a physical education class in the gym in October, teachers Trevor Warner and Tammy Petrocelli initiated the school’s medical emergency response plan.

Principal Michael Zapicchi, Chief Richard Furda, EMT Brian Barbarise, school nurse Patricia Walsh, Patrolman Martin McElwrath, EMT Austin Fountain & teacher Trevor Warner the Saviours

Mr. Warner immediately began CPR while Ms. Petrocelli radioed for help.

School nurse Patricia Walsh called emergency services.

First responder Patrolman Martin McElrath arrived within minutes, quickly followed by local emergency technicians Mr. Fountain and Mr. Barbarise who used an AED (automatic external defibrillator) to help save the student’s life.

Quick thinking, fast action and one smart machine saved a life Tuesday at East Stroudsburg University.

View First Aid Corps World Map of AED Locations in a larger map

Colleen Shotwell & Wendy Dietrich the Saviours

A 22-year-old student playing basketball at a campus sports facility suddenly collapsed. That’s when a teacher and several athletic trainers sprung into action and used the facility’s automated external defibrillator, or AED, to jumpstart the man’s heart, which had temporarily stopped.

The trainers then administered CPR until medics arrived and took the man to the hospital, where, university officials say, he remains in stable condition. Officials declined to release his name.

According to Wendy Dietrich, the athletic trainer who administered the lifesaving electric shock, at around 2 p.m. Tuesday a teacher ran into her office at the field house, alerting her that a man who was playing basketball had just collapsed. Dietrich ran onto the basketball court and told a student to bring her the AED, which was down the hall.

Dietrich, who has worked at the school for six years, knew how to use the AED.

“I knew exactly what was happening,” said Dietrich, who once had to administer CPR to a man who had been struck by lightning.

As the AED was making calculations based on the man’s condition — the machine takes a few minutes to decide whether it needs to shock a person — the man stopped breathing. That’s when the machine shocked his chest. On a digital window, the AED then told Dietrich — who was aided by Colleen Shotwell, the head of ESU’s athletic training department — to administer CPR.

The two administered CPR — with Shotwell blowing air into the man’s mouth and Dietrich pumping his chest — until the ambulance arrived. The CPR helped keep him alive, but Dietrich credits the machine with having done the most important work.

“The AED is what saved his life,” Dietrich said.

“I’m just overcome with joy that I was able to help this young man,” said Dietrich. She was feeling good, “almost like a proud coach after a win.”

A Healdsburg High School student was revived with a defibrillator this morning after he stopped breathing during basketball practice, Healdsburg Fire Chief Steve Adams said.

The fire department and Bell’s Ambulance arrived at the school three minutes after receiving a 911 call at 10:22 a.m., Adams said.

A high school coach was performing CPR on the boy, who was not breathing and had no pulse, Adams said.

Firefighters continued CPR and applied a defibrillator once to the boy’s chest. The teen gasped and his breathing and pulse resumed a short time later, Adams said.

The boy was stabilized before he was taken to Healdsburg District Hospital. He was then transferred to Oakland’s Children’s Hospital by REACH helicopter, Adams said.

Adams attributed the successful life-saving effort to the coach, who he said recognized the medical emergency and immediately starting CPR, and the quick response by firefighters and emergency medical responders.

On November 8, 2010, a student collapsed from a sudden cardiac arrest while attending class at the Owen Sound Campus of Georgian College.

View First Aid Corps World Map of AED Locations in a larger map

Faculty and classmates who witnessed her collapse called 9-1-1.

Nearby faculty administered CPR while a staff member, trained in its use, retrieved the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) that is kept on the campus.

The AED delivered one shock, which stabilized the patient’s heart rhythm.

Grey County EMS arrived on the scene, took over patient care and transported the woman to the hospital. The patient is now stable and recovering in hospital.