School staff revive teen who suffered cardiac arrest in gym class

CYNTHIA REASON|Dec 07, 2011 - 7:59 AM


Group nominated for EMS Citizen Award

Six staff members at Silverthorn Collegiate Institute are being touted as heroes for saving the life of a young student who collapsed from a sudden cardiac arrest last Wednesday in gym class.
Teachers Sharon McConnell, Sean King and Norm Petterson, along with the school's principal, Sam Iskandar, vice principal, Tim Brethour, and hall monitor, Linda Armstrong, have all been nominated for Toronto EMS's Citizen Award for their parts in reviving a 17-year-old male student with the school's automated external defibrillator (AED).

"They did a fabulous job - perfect to a tee," said Gayle Pollock, commander of Toronto EMS's Cardiac Safe City program. "It definitely went the way that you want a sudden cardiac arrest to happen. They did everything perfectly."

It all started last Wednesday morning shortly after 10:30 a.m.

Just a week and a half into her new job at Silverthorn, McConnell had a class of Grade 12s divided into two groups, each playing four-on-four basketball in the school's main gym. Out of the corner of her eye, McConnell saw the boy, who asked that his name not be used, holding his arm.

"Then he kind of started walking backwards from the game. He had been playing basketball all morning, so I thought maybe he needed a drink or a rest. But then he went stiff and fell backwards," recalled McConnell, a longtime lifeguard well versed in emergency first aid.

At the very same time, King was walking through the gym. Ironically, he was teaching his Grade 9 class cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) at the time, and was headed to pick up the school's demonstration AED when he saw the student collapse.

Both teachers rushed to the boy's side.

"He was lying on the ground and his eyes were half open...but he wasn't responding," McConnell said. "So, I knelt down and asked 'Are you alright?' Then I saw his hand flinch and he started to shake."

McConnell's training kicked in, and she made sure the teen's head was protected while the seizure took it's course. After it was over, he recovered somewhat and tried to get up. Then a second seizure overtook him.

"Normally when a student collapses, you expect them to sort of snap back to it right away, but that wasn't happening," said King, who, at the time, was unaware the avid basketball player had a serious pre-existing heart condition.

While King ran to the main office to phone 911, Petterson cleared the gym of the remaining students, and Iskandar, Brethour and Armstrong were radioed to the scene.

By the time King returned, the second seizure had ended. He and McConnell then began checking for vitals.

"I didn't feel any air on my cheek, I couldn't see his chest moving up and down, and I couldn't hear him taking any breaths," McConnell remembered.

Moving quickly, the pair positioned the teen on his back, and McConnell began artificial respiration, while King continued looking for a pulse.

Iskandar, Brethour and Armstrong arrived on the scene and still no pulse could be found.

"As soon as we heard that there was no pulse, I went and got the defibrillator," Brethour said of the school's AED, which was located nearby.

King and Brethour then set about cutting off the boy's shirt and placing the defibrillator's pads on his chest, while AED-trained Armstrong stood calmly on relaying instructions, and Iskandar ran back to the office to parlay information to the 911 dispatcher.

Once the AED's pads were connected, the machine took over.

"I could hear the machine saying 'analyzing, analyzing'...Then it actually said, 'no pulse detected. Administer shock,'" McConnell said.

After Brethour pushed the flashing green button to administer the shock, the AED instructed that CPR should be started immediately. McConnell took up the task - one she'd never performed on a live person before.

The AED instructed her through about three or four cycles of 30 compressions to two breaths, after which McConnell and King both located a pulse - albeit a faint one.

Toronto Fire Services and EMS arrived very shortly thereafter, but McConnell remained at the student's side, holding his hand and reassuring him as paramedics readied him for his trip to the hospital.

"I just kept talking to him and saying things like 'this is what happening, this is who's here.' He was totally unconscious, but he could squeeze my hand if I asked him to," she said.

While Iskandar made the announcement for teachers to keep the hallways clear of students, police blocked off Burnhamthorpe to aid the paramedics' quick exit to Trillium Health Centre in Mississauga.

If not for their quick action, their student might have died, said Pollock: "Every minute counts with a cardiac arrest. With every passing minute the chance of survival decreases by 10 per cent."

This week, the boy remains in hospital as his doctors contemplate surgery to correct his heart disorder.

Both Iskandar and McConnell have gone to visit him at the hospital. While they said he's still a bit hazy and doesn't remember the day of his collapse and near death, he's doing much better - so much better, in fact, that his main concern was for his ruined T-shirt.

"He was asking 'what shirt was it, Miss? Oh no! Was it my Puma shirt?'" a laughing McConnell recalled of her visit last Friday.

Now that the student appears to be out of the woods, the staff who came to his rescue have had time to reflect on what happened - and what could have happened had they not intervened.

"I think it all sunk in to us later that evening that, you know, this young man nearly died right in front of us," Armstrong said. Calling their reaction to the cardiac arrest "a total team effort", all six are being lauded for maintaining a calm front in face of crisis.

"We felt they did an amazing job. Between their actions and the fact that they had an AED in the school and they were prepared to use it, everything went as it should have," Pollock said, noting that the use of an AED increases a victim's chance of survival up to 75 per cent. "They had emergency plans, they followed those plans, and it all had a great outcome."

Another save - (notice the symptoms)

“If you have the opportunity to take a CPR class, I recommend you do it,” Stephanie Jackson urges.

Stephanie Jackson speaks from experience. In April of this year, her CPR training saved the life of her own father in the family home.

“My mom and I are chatting in the kitchen, and she looks over and yells his name because he’s making a weird snoring noise. She just starts screaming, screaming, and I’m like ‘call 911,’” said Jackson.

With her father struggling to breathe, Stephanie applied basic CPR techniques for ten minutes until the paramedics arrived.

“The only thing I could think of was ‘this isn’t happening, and if it’s happening, then I better react, because no one else is stepping up,’” said Jackson.

And step up she did, saving her father’s life. Bob Jackson is alive today thanks to his daughter, Stephanie, and her knowledge of CPR.

“I have been trained in CPR since I was in high school… I always doubted myself, when I was doing the classes. I would always say ‘what if I don’t do it right, or what if I’m not doing it right?’ It clicks back in when it’s time. When it’s go time, your brain pulls it out,” said Jackson.

Now Stephanie has no doubt, and is truly a real hero.

“Stephanie came through for me… I thank God, I’m grateful to be here. I know if it weren’t for Stephanie, I wouldn’t be,” said her father.

“I was taught how to do something, I needed to do it at that moment, so I did it. I don’t really feel like a hero, but I feel like I did something good… It’s really emotional, that day. It’s hard to think about it, because, what if I did something wrong?,” said Jackson.

Because she did everything right, Stephanie Jackson is the 2011 Red Cross Adult Good Samaritan Real Hero.

Deep breath time...

Here's a heart warming story that was on the wires this morning...
_______
Scout recognized for saving great-grandmother's life

It was a gutsy move for 10-year-old Lane Hardin to tell his grandmother that she was performing CPR incorrectly on his great-grandmother, who was having a stroke.

But the Peaster student’s calm thinking, courage and thorough knowledge of the live-saving method helped save the woman’s life when he stepped in to assist his grandmother as they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

When Lane learned CPR in the third grade through Cub Scouts, he didn’t think he’d have to use it.

He definitely couldn’t expect to earn a prestigious and rare life-saving award by the age of 11.

______
Heart warming? More like heartburn.

In the course of teaching hundreds of Bystander CPR classes over the past five years, I can count on one hand the number of classes where someone wasn't confused about heart attacks, cardiac arrests, and strokes.

That's understandable, but the reporters and editors aren't helping.

A heart attack happens when a coronary artery on the suface of the heart becomes blocked, thus cutting off the blood flow to the heart muscle that artery serves, and leading to the death of that portion of the heart muscle. Get it fixed fast, or it could lead to death or permanent disability.

A stroke happens either when an artery feeding the brain becomes blocked (it's like a heart attack, but in the brain) or (less commonly) when an artery feeding the brain ruptures. Get it fixed fast, or the symptoms you are experiencing could become permanent and worse. Don't ignore a stroke that goes away in 15 minutes.

A cardiac arrest happens when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood. A person in cardiac arrest is clinically dead and will most likely remain so unless those people who saw it happen (a) call 911, (b) begin chest compressions, and (c) get an AED and use it!

Tell me again why someone was performing CPR on a stroke patient? Most likely, the person suffered a cardiac arrest, and the reporter or some editor thinks a cardiac arrest is a stroke.

Why is this important? Hopefully, education will teach enough people what they need to do and why when people suffer a cardiac arrest or a stroke, thus leading to significant improvement in death and disability rates. A campaign to educate people isn't helped by calling things by the wrong name.

Arrrrrgh!

Girl, Friend Save Mom With CPR Learned on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

A mother of three from Sheboygan, Wis., credits her 10-year-old daughter, her daughter’s friend and “Grey’s Anatomy” with saving her life.


When 36-year-old Kandace Seyferth collapsed from a severe asthma attack Nov. 25, her daughter Madisyn knew exactly what to do. She quickly dialed 911 and started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while her friend, 12-year-old Katelynn Vreeke, performed chest compressions.


Where did these young girls learn how to give lifesaving CPR? From watching ABC’s medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” Seyferth said. “We’ve watched it every week for the past eight years,” Seyferth told ABCNews.com. ”When my fiance asked her how she knew what to do, she said, ‘I’ve seen it on there 100 times.’”


Paramedics arrived four minutes later and took Seyferth to a nearby hospital.


“The paramedics saw them doing it, and they were just floored,” said Seyferth. “They’ve never taken classes; they just did what they saw. It’s amazing.”


Seyferth, who also has two sons, one 13 years old and the other 17 months old, said she was shocked by the young girls’ quick and calm response.


“My mind’s just blown,” she said. “Most adults I know would panic. They kept calm.”


Fire chief Jeff Hermann said the outcome could have been different had the girls not started CPR.


“These kids did what they were supposed to do, and they should be commended for the speed of their actions as well as the actions themselves,” Hermann told the Sheboygan Press.


Seyferth developed asthma symptoms after battling severe pneumonia last year.


“I’ve never felt the same since,” she said, describing the infection that landed her in intensive care for 21 days.


Seyferth carries an albuterol inhaler at all times. But they day she collapsed, it didn’t work. She’s visiting a pulmonologist Tuesday for lung testing, and hopes to get some answers.


In the meantime, Seyferth said the incident strengthened the already strong bond between her and her daughter.


“She’s getting an extra-special Christmas present this year,” she said. “If they weren’t around, I don’t know what would have happened. I wouldn’t be here, that’s for sure.”

Ottawa has its act together!

Three saves in one week...

Updated: Sat Nov. 26 2011 4:53:11 PM

ctvottawa.ca An Ottawa firefighter said he's looking forward to having a beer with the opposing player whose life he helped save during a game of hockey Friday night.

Ottawa paramedics said a 61-year-old man was playing hockey at the Kanata Recreation Complex when he collapsed around 10:30 p.m. Friday.

Off-duty firefighter Pat Aubry skated over, felt he had no pulse and immediately asked for someone to call 911 and get the public access defibrillator, according to Ottawa Fire Services.

"I was assessing him and as I was assessing him his eyes rolled back and he went purple, so I started CPR," said firefighter Pat Aubry.

CPR and one shock from the defibrillator were delivered, and paramedics said the man's pulse was back when they arrived.

"We set it up on him and the machine did what it was supposed to do," Aubry said.

He was taken to hospital conscious and is in stable condition.

The incident is the third this past week where someone was saved with a defibrillator.

Tuesday a 66-year-old man suffered a heart attack while curling at the RCMP Curling Rink; his pulse was also brought back using CPR and a defibrillator.

Thursday, the same "chain of survival" was put into action to save a 79-year-old who suffered cardiac arrest while playing tennis at the West Ottawa Tennis Club.

A 41-year-old was revived with a defibrillator after he collapsed playing hockey Saturday, Nov. 19 at the Minto Arena.

Aubry, who looked after the patient's children while their mother was at the hospital, said he's done CPR plenty of times on the job.

Still, he insists the accolades aren't his alone.

"(People say) 'Thanks a lot Pat, you're the guy that saved him,'" he said. "I said no, it was a team effort, everybody helped."

There are more than 700 defibrillators in Ottawa, in both public and private facilities.

Using one during cardiac arrest increases the chance of survival by 65 per cent.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Karen Soloman

[Blogger's note about the '65%' reference: It almost always takes at least CPR & AED to bring a sudden cardiac arrest victim back. In the U.S.A. between five and ten percent are brought back, with the difference depending whether you insist that the survivor not be counted unless the survivor is able to perform the activities of daily living. Over a ten year period, the Phoenix Airport has averaged a 75% survival rate. This success is due to plenty of people who know Bystander CPR, plenty of AED's, a really good Emergency Medical Service, and really good cardiac center hospitals.]

Patient who collapsed at gym thanks worker who helped save him

By Charles McMahon cmcmahon@seacoastonline.com November 23, 2011 2:00 AM PORTSMOUTH — It was an emotional moment on Tuesday morning at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, as Planet Fitness employee Whitni Hendley met the man whose life she helped save just one week earlier.

John Foster, 65, of Rye, said he's thankful Hendley was working when he collapsed while running on a treadmill Nov. 15 at the Lafayette Road gym.

What caused John Foster to collapse?

Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Robert Helm said Foster's (below) heart stopped because of a condition called bicuspid aortic valve.

What is bicuspid aortic valve? It's a disorder in which the valve has only two leaflets, or flaps, that control blood flow through the heart. Like the tricuspid valve and the pulmonary valves, normal aortic valves have three tissue leaflets.

The risk: Over time, ongoing strain on the valve and heart can lead to permanent and life-threatening complications, including an enlarged heart, abnormal heart rhythms and congestive heart failure. To learn CPR: The American Heart Association teaches the technique for adults and infants. To sign up, call 433-4041.

"I remember going to the gym and starting my workout," he said. "The next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital and they told me what she did."

Hendley, 22, of York, Maine, was working at the front desk at about 6:45 a.m. when Foster went into cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. Hendley grabbed the gym's automated external defibrillator, checked for vital signs, then shocked the man until he regained a pulse.

With the assistance of another gym patron, Hendley performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Foster until paramedics arrived.

Her lifesaving efforts have been called heroic by gym members and emergency responders. Hendley said she has received congratulations from just about everyone in the gym community, perhaps the most meaningful of which came Tuesday when Hendley visited Foster at the local hospital.

"I couldn't believe it," he said. "Somebody had to take charge, and (Whitni) did. I'm very grateful. She did an amazing job."

Joining the pair for the reunion was Portsmouth Regional Hospital cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Robert Helm, who helped explain what led to Foster's cardiac arrest last week.

Helm said Foster had a congenital bicuspid aortic valve, meaning the valve had only two leaflets, or flaps, to control blood flow from the heart. There normally are three.

"The heart can't get enough blood," he said of the disorder that affects about 1.5 percent of the population.

The heart surgeon said he performed a three-hour surgery on Foster last week. The surgery included a small incision in Foster's chest.

"We replaced his aortic valve and we repaired his mitral valve," Helm said.

Foster said he at first didn't want to have the surgery.

"I was not planning on staying," he said. "Then they told me what they knew and my daughter showed up. They played the 'grandkids' card."

Since the surgery, Foster said he feels great. He credited not only Hendley for the fact he is still alive, but also Helm and his team for performing the important surgery.

"Everyone's been amazing," he said.

Helm said the story involving Hendley and Foster could be educational on all fronts. He said the fact Planet Fitness trains its employees and had a defibrillator on scene was vitally important.

"These weren't around five years ago," he said of the life-saving devices.

Helm said Foster's experience should also serve as a wake-up call to people who may have heart problems and are too afraid to get them checked out.

"It's a good thing for everybody to know," he said.

With Thanksgiving coming, Foster said, he's thankful he will have a chance to celebrate the holiday with his family. Foster said he imagines this holiday, more than any other, will be a special one.

The Rye man said he is looking forward to getting back to his life once he's recovered, adding he'll surely feel like he's in good hands when is able to go back to the gym.

"I'm looking forward to working out again," he said.

Bystander helps to save man in cardiac arrest at Ottawa tennis club

By Meghan Hurley, The Ottawa Citizen November 24, 2011

OTTAWA — A bystander at an Ottawa tennis club helped to save a 79-year-old man who suffered from a sudden cardiac arrest Thursday afternoon.

Paramedics responded to a call for a man in cardiac arrest West Ottawa Tennis Club around 2:37 p.m.

A paramedic communications officer guided the caller through CPR and using a defibrillator.

When advanced-care paramedics arrived, the man regained a pulse.

Paramedics treated the man with advanced airway management and cardiac monitoring.

The man was taken to hospital in serious conditions.

Paramedics said calling 911, early CPR, defibrillation and advanced paramedic care dramatically increases heart attack survival rates.

This was the second time in the past few days that early CPR and defibrillation helped to save a person in cardiac arrest.

Bystanders at a curling rink helped save a 66-year-old man after he suffered a heart attack Tuesday evening.

The man regained a pulse after bystanders gave him CPR and used a defibrillator before paramedics arrived at the RCMP Curling Rink around 6:30 p.m.

Paramedics intubated the man and gave him medication before he was taken to hospital in serious condition.

mhurley@ottawacitizen.com twitter.com/meghan_hurley © Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen