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Tennessee Athletic trainer, defibrillator saves man at baseball game

Article reposted from WKRN.com
Author: Adam Snider

A day at the ball park nearly turned to tragedy – if not for a quick thinking athletic trainer and a life saving device.

It was a box on the wall that tends to blend in – to which Thomas Hobson owes his life.
“Yeah I’m feeling good today,” said Hobson, relaxing outside his home. “Last few days, I’ve been feeling pretty good.”

One night last month, while catching his grandson’s baseball game at White House Heritage High School, Thomas took a dive.

“My head started spinning real fast,” he explained. “I looked down, looked like the sidewalk was coming up to me, but I was falling, that’s the last thing I knew.”

Thomas came to on a stretcher, being whisked away to a nearby hospital.

Officials explained he just suffered a heart attack. Hobson was still alive thanks to a nearby defibrillator, and a fully prepared athletic trainer.

Andrea Gowan is a trainer with Heritage High. She and Hobson met for the first time since the incident Friday afternoon.

“I got a call from a parent, and then I heard them call for me over the PA system,” said Gowan. “I ran from soccer, down to baseball.”

She soon spotted a collapsed Hobson, a crowd of people, and a defibrillator ready to go.

(Photo: WKRN)
“Hooked the AED up, cleared everybody back,” said Gowan. “It delivered one shock, and we restarted CPR, and luckily after that first set of CPR he actually came back.”

Andrea had been properly defibrillator trained, but most of the devices are made to be used by all, with clearly marked instructions, or even voice commands.

“So having them available for people to use, to help save people, it makes a huge difference,” said Gowan.

“I’m glad you were there,” added Hobson. “Yeah I’m glad you were there, ‘cause if you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Hobson now has a pace maker. He’s taking it easy at his doctor’s request, but says he’ll be back out watching baseball in no time.

Anyone interested in CPR, or defibrillator training, can visit the American Red Cross, or the American Heart Association.

A day at the ball park nearly turned to tragedy – if not for a quick thinking athletic trainer and a life saving device.

It was a box on the wall that tends to blend in – to which Thomas Hobson owes his life.

(Photo: WKRN)

“Yeah I’m feeling good today,” said Hobson, relaxing outside his home. “Last few days, I’ve been feeling pretty good.”

One night last month, while catching his grandson’s baseball game at White House Heritage High School, Thomas took a dive.

“My head started spinning real fast,” he explained. “I looked down, looked like the sidewalk was coming up to me, but I was falling, that’s the last thing I knew.”

Thomas came to on a stretcher, being whisked away to a nearby hospital.

Officials explained he just suffered a heart attack. Hobson was still alive thanks to a nearby defibrillator, and a fully prepared athletic trainer.

Andrea Gowan is a trainer with Heritage High. She and Hobson met for the first time since the incident Friday afternoon.

“I got a call from a parent, and then I heard them call for me over the PA system,” said Gowan. “I ran from soccer, down to baseball.”

She soon spotted a collapsed Hobson, a crowd of people, and a defibrillator ready to go.

(Photo: WKRN)

“Hooked the AED up, cleared everybody back,” said Gowan. “It delivered one shock, and we restarted CPR, and luckily after that first set of CPR he actually came back.”

Andrea had been properly defibrillator trained, but most of the devices are made to be used by all, with clearly marked instructions, or even voice commands.

“So having them available for people to use, to help save people, it makes a huge difference,” said Gowan.

“I’m glad you were there,” added Hobson. “Yeah I’m glad you were there, ‘cause if you hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Hobson now has a pace maker. He’s taking it easy at his doctor’s request, but says he’ll be back out watching baseball in no time.

Anyone interested in CPR, or defibrillator training, can visit the American Red Cross, or the American Heart Association.

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CSULB Athletic Trainer and Intern Honored for Saving a Student’s Life

Article reposted from Long Beach Post
Author: ARIANA GASTELUM

The California Athletic Trainers’ Association (CATA) honored Cal State Long Beach athletic training intern and student Tori Mulitauaopele and Golden West College Athletic Trainer Pat Frohn with the “Lifesaver Award” for rescuing track athlete Javier Venegas after he collapsed at a Golden West College (GWC) track meet, officials announced Friday.

Today, Venegas is fully recovered from what was determined to be a heart arrhythmia. He returned to school during the first week of February.

“Each cardiologist who saw him, at three different hospitals, said Javier was alive today because these individuals took action,” Javier’s mother Valerie Venegas said in a statement. “Luckily, the right people were in at the right place at the right time; this could have been a very different story.”

The ceremony recalled the actions that took place at the track meet, which occurred January 25.

Shortly after Venegas collapsed on the track, GWC’s track coach notified Frohn and Mulitauaopele, who were in Frohn’s office at the time. The two sprung into action, grabbing an emergency pack and racing to the scene.

“After checking his vitals, I confirmed Javier wasn’t breathing and didn’t have a pulse,” Frohn said during the ceremony. “At that point, I took over chest compressions and instructed Tori to start rescue breathing.”

Frohn used an automated external defibrillator while he and Mulitauaopele performed CPR. These actions resulted in the jolt where Venegas’ heart started beating, and he began breathing. At this point, the EMT arrived to transport the athlete to the emergency room, where he was put into a medically-induced coma.

Additionally, during the ceremony, CATA President Jason Bennett brought awareness to the fact that California currently remains the only state in the nation that doesn’t regulate athletic training.

“Anyone––regardless of education and certification–– can act as an athletic trainer and treat serious injuries with potentially dire consequences,” he said. “For the sake of our children, this needs to end now.”

Bennett added that the CATA and Assemblymember Matt Debabneh recently introduced legislation AB-1510, which would require licensure for athletic trainers in California.

“Beyond saving a life, Pat and Tori changed the lives of many,” State Senator Janet Nguyen said at the event. “As a parent, I can understand the deep sense of gratitude that the Venegas family has for Pat and Tori. As a neighbor to Golden West College, I am thankful to know that we have great staff and students that go beyond the call of duty to serve others. And as a believer in humanity, I am comforted in knowing that kindness and goodwill are among us.”

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School Sports Events: Athletic Trainers Can Be The Difference Between Life And Death

Article reposted from CBS New York
Author: CBS New York

Whether it’s a referee having a heart attack, an athlete suffering a concussion, or a fan hit by a ball, few schools have a medical staff on site to respond immediately to medical emergencies.

That’s all changing thanks to a new life saver.

“We were yelling at her, ‘you’re not leaving us, we’re not letting you go’,” Nick Kostishak Jr. recalled.

In January, St. Anthony’s High School graduate Taya Paschall went to see her Alma mater take on Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville where Kostishak Jr. is an athletic trainer.

“I was on the sideline with my team, and my athletic director urgently came over,” he said.

“Somewhere during the third quarter I got dizzy and I just went out,” Paschall said.

Trainers are typically there to care for players, but that night it was Paschall — a fan — who was in need of medical attention.

“Her lips were turning blue,” Kostishak said.

She wasn’t breathing, and then lost her pulse.

“She was dead on our table, she had flatlined, she was dead,” he added.

As schools struggle with less funding, few have athletic trainers on staff.

Angelo Marsella, Director of Sports Medicine for Professional Physical Therapy — an organization that places athletic trainers — said with an increase in concussion awareness, schools are now realizing the importance of having a medical professional at all games and not just for the athletes.

“You’re not just focused on one person or one sport, you’re there for the safety of everyone around you,” Marsella said.

An ambulance would have taken minutes to arrive, but Kostishak was able to react in seconds, shocking Paschall back to life, and performing CPR.

“A lot of other people wouldn’t know what to do,” she said.

“Every single doctor that saw Taya said, ‘it’s amazing that you’re still here, and even when people survive the event they’re brain damaged,” her mother Kimma said.

Kimma said her daughter suffered cardiac arrest due to a previously undetected heart condition.

“For Taya to be alive and functioning it’s amazing. I can’t believe to tell you how grateful I really am,” she said

Although Kostishak has a pretty good idea.

“I couldn’t imagine the thought of what would have happened if I had lost her. A complete stranger and I feel like we’re family now,” he said.

Certified athletic trainers undergo four years of schooling and at least 600 hours of clinical experience.

According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 37 percent of public secondary schools have a trainer at their games starting at an hourly rate of about $20.

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Oklahoma Athletic Trainer Hailed Hero After Saving Referee

Article reposted from News9.com
Author: KARL TORP

News9.com – Oklahoma City, OK – News, Weather, Video and Sports |

An athletic trainer in Harrah is being hailed a hero for coming to the aid of a referee who collapsed on the field.

It happened during the second overtime of a district soccer match between Harrah High School and Classen SAS Tuesday night.

“He didn’t trip, He didn’t fall, he just collapsed and I need to be there,” said Harrah athletic Geoff Hargis about what was going through his mind.

Hargis immediately started performing CPR and was aided by two parents from Classen. One happened to be a cardiologist.

“We were doing compressions and he’d take a breath, but we couldn’t get a solid pulse on him,” said Hargis.

Paramedics would soon arrive, as Hargis and others witnessed the man regain consciousness.

“Very relieved,” said Hargis.

But all anxiety wouldn’t be gone until Wednesday morning, when Hargis got a chance to speak with the referee.

“It was good to hear him talk in knowing that we were successful in keeping him alive,” said Hargis.

Due to budget constraints, athletic trainers are not always available for games.

Harrah’s athletic director is thankful the referee got help so quickly.

“We appreciate Geoff, but we appreciate all the athletic directors all over country that do what they do,” said Athletic Director Guy Worth.

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New Jersey Athletic Trainers Honored for Life Saving Efforts

Article reposted from Burlington County Times
Author:

Friday, Feb. 17, started out as a normal day for Cherokee High School teacher Janet Pulverenti.

Her students had a half-day, and she was on her way to the school’s Performing Arts Center to complete some afternoon professional development with fellow teachers and staff members.

But as Pulverenti entered the room, her heart started beating quickly. She went into cardiac arrest and fell unconscious.

Luckily, four co-workers did more than just call 911. They also used CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) to revive Pulverenti in only about three minutes.

“Without them, I would not be here,” she said. “The doctors made it very clear to me that I shouldn’t be here.”

Head athletic trainer Jeff Wood, assistant athletic trainer Karen Hengst, paraprofessional Gary Denelsbeck and nurse-paraprofessional Felicia Progar were all honored as heroes at the Lenape Regional Board of Education meeting on Wednesday.

After Pulverenti went into cardiac arrest, staff members began calling 911 and using school radios to alert administrators, Superintendent Carol Birnbohm said. Denelsbeck and Progar, who were in the room, immediately began performing CPR.

“We had basketball practice going on,” said Hengst, who was in the gymnasium with Wood when they heard the calls over the radio.

The two, who are certified athletic trainers, quickly grabbed the AED and used it to shock Pulverenti’s heart. She regained consciousness almost immediately.

“The AED is what gave (Janet) her life,” Wood said.

Pulverenti said it was incredible that colleagues came from different parts of the building to come to her aid.

All involved expressed gratitude that they were in the right place at the right time.

Pulverenti, a teacher in the district for 14 years, said her husband and six children were equally grateful.

“I can’t express my gratitude enough,” she told the four after they received plaques and resolutions from the school board. “Thank you for my life.”

Birnbohm said she hopes the story of quick action and training will inspire others to invest in AEDs and train people about their effectiveness.

“Not only are we honoring you, but perhaps this story might make someone become more aware of the location of the AEDs in their building or community,” she said. “And just maybe, because someone heard your story, you will be responsible for saving more lives.”

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AT and Connecticut State Representative co-sponsors bill on concussion protocol

Article reposted from Citizen’s News
Author: Citizen’s News

State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, R-Seymour, testified this month in support of legislation that would strengthen concussion protocols.

Senate Bill 769, which Klarides-Ditria, an athletic trainer, co-sponsored, would require coaches of youth athletic activities on public athletic fields complete a training course regarding concussions. The bill would also require the coaches to remove from play athletes suspected of having or diagnosed with a concussion and to prohibit them from resuming until permission is obtained from a licensed health care provider, a press release stated.

The legislature’s Committee on Children held a public hearing on the bill on Feb. 16.

“As an athletic trainer, I have seen first-hand the danger that concussions pose to our children,” said Klarides-Ditria in the release. “The symptoms are not clear to the untrained eye, and too often the thrill of athletic competition is placed ahead of the safety and well-being of our children.”

Klarides-Ditria introduced similar legislation, House Bill 6705, which was before the Public Health Committee, the release stated.

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Athletic trainers, AEDs called vital after teen’s life saved

Article reposted from Edge Radio
Author: Ryan O’Leary

Robin Hunt understands the praise and attention she’s received the past two weeks. She just doesn’t want people calling her a hero.

Hunt will be the first to tell you: She was simply doing her job on Monday, Feb. 20, when a junior varsity basketball game that seemed like countless other junior varsity basketball games suddenly went terribly, terribly wrong.

Rhys Daigle, a 14-year-old freshman from Nute High School, was spotted by one of the referees in the third quarter and the game at Epping was stopped. Daigle seemed to be wobbly and looked pale, so the officials removed him from the game and the boy took a seat on the bench. Hunt, Epping’s personal athletic trainer through Access Sports Medicine, hurried over to check on him.

“I sat with him on the bench and he was just super pale, super dizzy,” said Hunt, a Hampton native who graduated from Winnacunnet High School in 2010, “and then he just fainted. He just passed out right on me.”

Hunt brought Daigle down to the ground, as two men — one an off-duty EMT, the other off-duty Epping police officer A.J. Towle — rushed over from the stands to assist. But they lost the boy’s pulse as he laid there on the basketball court, and it was Hunt who quickly retrieved the school’s automated external defibrillator (AED) and placed it on the boy’s chest.

“You just hope that it sticks on (his chest) and turn it on,” Hunt said of that moment, “and you hope that it doesn’t have to shock. But when it says ‘shock’ — that’s real.

“‘This machine right here is actually going to save this kid’s life, hopefully,'” she remembers thinking. “You don’t ever think you’re going to see that. It’s scary.”

The AED shocked Daigle twice before a pulse returned. He was breathing on his own again when help arrived to transport him first to Exeter Hospital, and then to Boston by helicopter.

It was learned later that Daigle had an unknown heart condition. Ironically, Hunt did her entire graduate thesis on unknown heart conditions and sudden death in high school athletes.

“That was my last two years of research,” she said of her studies down in Tennessee, “and then here I am, doing it right there.

Hunt was there.

That might be the real miracle in this story, that a school as small as Epping not only had an AED stationed in its gymnasium, but that it has its own athletic trainer who knew where to find it and how to use it when crisis struck.

Personal athletic trainers are not the norm for the smaller New Hampshire schools. Out of the state’s 88 schools in the New Hampshire Athletic Association, 29 do not have an athletic trainer listed in the NHIAA Handbook.

Most will use the per diem approach, bringing in trainers on a game-by-game basis. Some don’t use trainers at all, relying instead on EMTs or coaches, who are required by the NHIAA to be trained in both CPR and First Aid.

“The per diem thing, I would say it’s in the category of being better than nothing,” said Mike Feld, who works out of Marsh Brook Rehab in Somersworth and has been Oyster River’s athletic trainer for 14 years. “There’s also something to be said about having a relationship with the athletes, the coaches, the parents. Having them trust in your knowledge and your skills, trust in your recommendations … as opposed to some random person that shows up twice a week on game days that you really don’t have that relationship with.

Feld continues: “A concussion, a head injury, how the athlete is acting, their personality, is a big part of kind of seeing what’s wrong. If I have no idea how they are normally, I have nothing to compare that to.”

Generally, it comes down to budget, and the high cost of AEDs (which can run into the thousands) is another important part of the story. The state has evolved enough over the past couple years that almost all schools have at least one AED on site. But where? How accessible is it? And in a situation like Epping’s, will there always be somebody there, trained and ready to take immediate action?

“The smaller schools where it’s really not that important yet, who knows?” said Mikaela Harding, who’s in her third year as Winnacunnet’s athletic trainer. “They might not have an AED, and it would take a death or something really bad to happen for them to institute that rule of having one.

“When have we ever seen something like that happening in the New England area? You haven’t. So I think everyone always thinks, like anything in life, ‘It’s never going to happen to me, never going to happen at my school.’ So it’s really eye-opening to know that it could happen anywhere and we always need to be prepared for it.”

Each March, the NATA celebrates National Athletic Training Month, which is a movement that helps spread awareness on the important work that athletic trainers are doing, from the schools to the colleges and pros. Their 2017 slogan is “Your Protection Is Our Priority.”

“I think it’s important,” Access Sports Medicine and Exeter AT Heidi Kirby said. “I’ve been at Exeter 15 years and there’s still people who don’t know what I do. These parents come in and they’re like ‘Well, who are you?'”

It’s part of the struggle that athletic trainers face on a daily basis. It’s a job that taxes the social life, requiring long hours, nights and weekends. More often than not, the job’s a whole lot less exciting than what Hunt encountered on Feb. 20.

“The goal is to do nothing,” Portsmouth High School AT Ryan Dolan put it, “but be ready for anything.”

The crux of the job, aside from counselling, stretching and rehab, is recognizing when an athlete is seriously hurt or in trouble, and when an athlete can safely be treated and put back into a game.

“I’d like people to know that we’re here to care for their children,” Kirby said. “We’re here on the sidelines. We give care that’s equal to what they’re going to get at the college level, sometimes the pro levels.

“We’re there to help. We’re not there to hurt, and if I can keep a kid playing I’m going to keep a kid playing — safely.”

But as we’ve seen here and throughout the country, particularly when the fall high school teams return to the field under the blazing summer sun, things can turn from safe to serious in a heartbeat.

“It’s interesting because you start to think of it as just your daily job, you show up, you do what you do, wrap up a couple kids, and that’s it,” said Taylor Brown, an Exeter grad who’s now the AT at Sanborn Regional. “But the potential for something more is always there. Things like this are kind of a reminder of that.”

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With the schools on vacation this week, Hunt had some time Tuesday to visit Boston Children’s Hospital, where she officially met Daigle for the first time.

“He’s doing well,” Hunt said. “He was sleeping. His dad woke him up.

“He just said ‘Thanks for saving my life.’ And then he went back to sleep. But I’ll take it. That’s all I need.”

Most of the athletic trainers we see at games throughout the Seacoast have never encountered a situation so dire. But they can all find comfort in the fact that they’re trained professionals, that in the case of an emergency, like if a 14-year-old boy is laid down on the basketball court and his heart stops, that there’s a process in place that can save a life.

Hunt was there. Next time, it could be any one of her peers.

“Something like this happens and you kind of think, Do I know?” Dolan said. “What would I do? How would I handle it? And do I have everything with me that I would need to handle a situation with a young kid? It’s good it happened the way it did with (Hunt), but it’s good for everybody else locally to kind of remember and go through their training one more time, in hopes that it happens that way again.”

“It’s great that she was there,” Kirby added of Hunt. “It’s such a small school. It’s just another example as to why, even if you’re a small school, to find it in your budget to at least have a per diem, if not a part-timer, because it could happen at any contest and it could be anything.”

 

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Athletic Trainer and AED Saves Wofford Linebacker’s Life

Article reposted from WYFF
Author: Baker Maultsby

Linebacker Michael Roach collapsed on the football field. The Wofford Terriers were playing Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., and Roach had just come off the field after a 13-play drive.

Had an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) and medical professionals not been close by, Roach may not be alive today.

A junior at Wofford College, Roach suffered from a cardiac arrest caused by a heart condition called apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, characterized by the thickening of the heart muscle, which can restrict blood flow.

The collapse came during the first game of the 2016 season. Roach was really tired, but that wasn’t alarming – an intense series of plays in extreme heat tend to leave players feeling drained. He sat on the bench for a rest and a drink of water.

Suddenly, he felt extremely light-headed. And that was it: Roach’s heart stopped beating.

“I was down and out for like a minute,” he said. “I was completely out of it.”

During that minute, Roach’s teammates were shouting for help and athletic trainers rushed to his side.

Athletic trainer Will Christman, a Spartanburg Regional Sports Medicine staff member who works with Wofford athletes, grabbed an AED and applied the electrodes to Roach’s chest.

“I was thinking, ‘This just got real.’ We got into game mode real quick,” Christman said.

Also on hand were team physician and orthopaedic specialist Stephen Kana, MD, and Cookeville cardiologist Stacy Brewington, MD, who happened to be at the game and rushed down from the stands to help.

The team administered CPR and electric shock from the AED. All the while, the game was halted and the stadium was eerily quiet.

Roach woke up in an ambulance, unaware that he had nearly died and was taken to Cookeville Regional Medical Center for evaluation.

“When I woke up in the ambulance, I asked to get back in the game,” Roach said. “I had no idea what had happened.”

At Roach’s home in Kenosha, WI, his family had been watching the game online and his brother saw a comment on Twitter that identified Roach as the player down.

“I think it got pretty frantic at my house,” he said.

Wofford athletic director Richard Johnson called Roach’s family as soon as he got word that he was breathing and alert. His parents drove through the night to Cookeville to be by their son’s side.

Though his health is under control, Roach was forced to give up football. Doctors advise him to only engage in light-to-moderate physical activity.

Roach has plenty to keep him busy: he’s working on a double major in Business Economics and English and has plans to attend law school. His experience as a patient has inspired him to consider pursuing career opportunities related to public health.

Giving up football was hard, but he was glad to remain part of the team. Roach helped the coaching staff during the remainder of the year, and plans to work with the team next season as well.

“I miss playing, but I’m just glad I’m here,” he said.

A grant from Spartanburg Regional Foundation enabled Spartanburg Regional Sports Medicine to purchase AEDs for athletic programs at Wofford and other local colleges and high schools. To help save others like Michael Roach, the Spartanburg Regional Foundation heart division is launching an AED Assistance Program during heart month. Applications will be accepted starting in February through April 5. The heart division will be providing 10 local nonprofits, churches, and organizations life-saving AEDS.

Visit RegionalFoundation.com to apply for the AED assistance program.

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Pennsylvania athletic trainer saves teen’s life at lacrosse camp

Article reposted from The Morning Call
Author: Sarah M. Wojcik

It’s a scene all athletic trainers and coaching staffs train for, but one they never hope to see: an athlete collapses, unresponsive.

During a lacrosse camp Sunday at DeSales University, a 17-year-old boy from Montvale, N.J., fell in a heap on the ground. Staff rushed to his side; among them Catasauqua Area School District athletic trainer John Capozzolo.

He saw the teen collapse face-first from the corner of his eye. He and a colleague tore off the teen’s helmet and pads. Immediately, he could tell the teen’s breathing had stopped and his pulse was undetectable. Capozzolo wasted no time.

“I kind of just went into a zone,” the trainer said Friday. “I heard nothing around me other than the people right next to me. Everything in my head was playing in order, like in a book.”

Capozzolo, in his 13th year at Catasauqua , was at the event to help with staff shortages. He started CPR and delegated. He asked Matthew Brancaccio, head lacrosse coach at DeSales, to fetch an automated external defibrillator and had another trainer call 911.

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New Hampshire Athletic Trainer Helps Save Life

Article reposted from NH1
Author: NH1

An Epping High School athletic trainer saved a young man’s life with the help of a bystander at a basketball game Monday.

Access Sports Medicine‘s Director of Athletic Training Nicole Spaulding said that a Nute High School junior varsity basketball player went into cardiac arrest at the beginning of the second half of the game at about 6 p.m.

Robin Hunt, the Epping High School and Middle School athletic trainer employed through Access Sports Medicine, performed CPR and used an AED until emergency services arrived.

Derek Perry, an EMT with Boston-base Cataldo Ambulance, said he went to offer assistance after the player collapsed. He said he checked the player’s pulse in his wrist and could feel a pulse, so he thought the player could be having a seizure.

Perry said Hunt retrieved the AED as he monitored the player’s pulse, but as they were about to place the AED pads on the player, Perry said he lost the player’s pulse in both his wrist and neck. Perry said the player’s pulse in his groin was also diminishing, and that the AED told them to administer a shock.

Perry said he then began performing chest compressions and a second shock was administered, at which point the player began thrashing and working to breathe. Perry said the player’s pulse returned in his wrist and neck and he was breathing on his own until EMS arrived.

The player was later airlifted to Boston Children’s Hospital, where he is now in stable condition.

Perry said contacts at the hospital told him that the young man was playing Playstation and doing well Tuesday morning. Perry said, as a parent, he is very happy that the young man is okay and that they were able to prevent a negative outcome.