First Aid Corps

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.

An Evergreen High School senior owes her life to some quick-acting adults, and an automated external defibrillator in the school that got her heart beating again.

Tuesday morning, the unidentified senior collapsed in a secretary’s office. Four adults at the school immediately jumped into action.

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School nurse Debbie Fowler pulled the defibrillator from the cabinet and began CPR.

Dean of students Marshall Pendleton said the girl had no pulse, and chest compressions weren’t enough to bring it back.

“Within, I think, 13 seconds we determined that a shock was recommended, so we cleared and allowed that to proceed,” Pendleton said.

It took three shocks to bring back a good heartbeat, he said, adding that the student’s prognosis was good and she was recovering.

He said similar events had happened twice before in the school within the last two years. In each case, the student made a full recovery.

Pendleton credits the quick actions of the faculty and the ease of using an AED.

“You look at a picture, you open a bag, you put two stickers on somebody’s chest. That’s it,” he said. “The machine does the rest. Everybody would be comfortable doing that.”

Surveillance footage shows a student suddenly collapse on the floor of his high school, as an officer jumps into action and runs for his automated external defibrillator, saving the boy’s life.

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Xavier Hunter, 16, collapsed Nov. 6 from a condition he was unaware of at the time that caused an irregularly fast heartbeat. An announcement made over Kent Meridian High School’s PA system alerted Officer Scott Rankin, the school’s resource officer, who ran to his vehicle in the school’s parking lot, returning with a defibrillator.

Rankin used the defibrillator and performed CPR until EMTs arrived at the scene, and Hunter was rushed to the hospital.

Scott Rankin the Saviour

“I remember when I woke up in the hospital bed, but I don’t remember anything from before that,” said Hunter.

“He’s a hero. If it wasn’t because if him, I’d be dead, probably.”

“Most of the time, it doesn’t have a story book ending,” said Rankin. “It’s certainly a highlight of my career.”

A Knoxville teenager spent Tuesday recovering from a heart-stopping situation at Central High School. The student’s family says the scene today would be very different if not for the quick reaction of coaches and some emergency medical equipment.

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“He plays baseball and wants to be the next Todd Helton,” said Ronnie Helton about his 14-year-old son, Hunter. “But this year he decided to go out for basketball.”

Hunter Helton was running inside the Central High School gym Monday afternoon when he collapsed.

“All I remember was running and I had like a heartburn in my chest. I don’t remember anything after that,” said Hunter. “I woke up in the hospital.”

“Coach Higgins at Central High School, he said Hunter was just running and he veered off and hit the floor. There was no notice or nothing. He thought it was a seizure,” said Ronnie Helton. “I know Coach Higgins did CPR and it was through his training and that AED that saved Hunter’s life.”

“What the AED does is read the rhythm of the heart and then if a shock is necessary, as it was in this case, it shocks the heart back into a normal rhythm,” said Jennings. “There are cases where schools had AEDs and were afraid to use them. There are studies that show a 5th grader can safely operate an AED.”

The AED also saved a readout for doctors to see exactly how Hunter’s heart responded.

“It shocked his [Hunter's] heart three different times,” said a tearful Ronnie Helton. “In two minutes and 49 seconds his heart beat one time. And they shocked him two more times and at 3:49 his heart jumped back into rhythm.”

Hunter’s mother said she is thankful the medical crisis struck while he was at school.

“He wouldn’t be here today if he wasn’t at the school and they didn’t have a defibrillator and they didn’t work so quickly,” said Kelly Helton.

“I’d just like to thank all the basketball players over there that helped me and all the coaches and medical staff,” said Hunter.

Hunter’s next step is a trip to Vanderbilt in Nashville for more extensive heart tests. After that doctors will know if and when Hunter may be able to play sports again. For now, Hunter’s family is just thankful he is alive and grateful for a device they had never heard of before Monday.

“It could have been anybody’s child and it could have been at any school and them not have one [an AED],” said Ronnie Helton. “Thank God for those AEDs.”

Two youths who brought a complete stranger back to life at Perth Airport nine days ago have been hailed “marvellous young people” by the man whose life they helped save.

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Jack Murray, 17, and Cassandra Mulliner, 23, were brought together today to meet Andrew Makowiecki, the man whose life they helped save on June 23 after the 57-year-old had suffered a heart attack.

Mr Makowiecki had just disembarked from a late night flight from Melbourne to Perth when he collapsed on the tarmac from a cardiac arrest.

Jack Murray and Cassandra Mulliner the Saviours with Andrew Makowiecki the Survivor

He soon stopped breathing and did not have a pulse.

It was only four weeks ago he was climbing mountains on Flinders Island, near Tasmania.

Jack, who was sitting just meters from Mr Makowiecki on the plane, immediately began CPR as Cassandra, an airport ground staff employee, rushed to get a life saving defibrillator machine.

“I saw Andrew on the ground and Jack began CPR, he quickly told me he was not breathing and that his heart had stopped so I ran to get the defibrillator,” Cassandra said.

“We cut his shirt off and I was praying it would work, he started to go grey but then after the first shock (of the machine) he came to.”

Cassandra said the whole experience had inspired her to become a paramedic.

“If I can help save people’s lives and make a difference, why wouldn’t I do it,” she said.

In an emotional meeting today at Royal Perth Hospital Jack, Cassandra and Mr Makowiecki reminisced over the evening which almost claimed the 57-year-old’s life.

“They are marvellous young people because they basically saved my life,” Mr Makowiecki said.

“This just proves just how great young people are.”

While Mr Makowiecki’s life was undoubtedly saved by the young pair’s quick actions and the defibrillator machine, he is to undergo triple bypass heart surgery tomorrow.

Jack, who is studying in Melbourne and was flying back to Perth to visit his family, said he felt it was “instinctive” of him to help Mr Makowiecki as he lay dying on the ground.

He said the whole experience had been emotional but very nice to be a part of at the same time.

“It was a once in a lifetime experience and it will stick with me for the rest of my life,” he said.

“It was so inspiring and a very heartfelt moment to be a part of, it’s so nice to see him (Mr Makowiecki) up and moving.”