Category: Sudden Cardiac Death

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New Jersey High School Includes Cardiac Testing in PPE

Article reposted from Shore News Today
Author: Brian Cunniff

Frank Zilinek completed his first full scholastic year as the certified athletic trainer at Lower Cape May Regional High School in June.

Zilinek had much more to deal with than just bumps, bruises, strains and sprains in his first year.

Five separate cardiac health incidents among the school’s student-athlete population gave him a serious initiation into his job. Although Zilinek said all five affected athletes have ended up OK, the experiences left him wondering if something could be done to prevent such incidents from occurring in the first place.

Enter Wimbledon Health Partners, a Boca Raton, Fla., based company that specializes in, according to its website, on-site comprehensive cardiovascular testing to high schools, colleges and universities across the country to help minimize sudden death among young athletes. The company’s website says sudden cardiac arrest is the leading medical cause of death among young athletes today.

Lower Cape May will become just the second New Jersey high school to bring Wimbledon Health Partners to its campus. Wimbledon will conduct voluntary cardiac testing for Lower Cape May Regional student athletes this Saturday, July 30, from 8 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. in the high school gymnasium.

“We seem to be seeing more and more sudden cardiac death in athletes, especially in recent years, across the country in all sports,” Zilinek said. “For us to have five cardiac incidents in one year, you realize how important this is and you start to think you really want to do something to prevent them.”

As of early this week, Zilinek said about 20 to 25 student-athletes had signed up to undergo cardiac testing this Saturday. The tests are open to athletes at both the high school and the Richard M. Teitelman Junior High School. Zilinek said a team from Wimbledon Health Partners, including a cardiologist, will be on hand to conduct three tests on each athlete – an electrocardiogram, an echocardiogram and a vascular Doppler Ultrasound.

According to Wimbledon’s website, those tests will help the health professionals identify numerous life-threatening cardiovascular conditions, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and congenital coronary artery anomalies, which make up the top two causes of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.

Zilinek said the tests will take about 90 minutes to complete for each athlete.

“We look for ways to prevent injury and illness all the time, so this was a no-brainer to bring this company in,” said Zilinek, who coached the boys lacrosse team at Lower Cape May prior to becoming the school’s athletic trainer. “The cardiologist and the techs read the results and look for anything major right there. If they see something major, the parents are notified right away before the athlete even leaves the testing facility. If there are minor things, the medical people will send out recommendations to the parents to keep an eye on something and to follow up with their doctor and then to report back to them if they need to.”

Zilinek said there was no cost to Lower Cape May Regional to bring Wimbledon Health Partners to its campus this weekend. He said all cardiac testing is covered by insurance. He added that Wimbledon will waive fees for a student-athlete without insurance and cannot afford to pay for the test or and for those cannot afford to pay a high insurance deductible.

“We really want to get these kids tested,” Zilinek said. “The Wimbledon group has been wonderful to work with so far. With us having five incidents in a (sports) year, we certainly felt it was enough to warrant trying to do something like this.

“Our school board, our athletic committee, our administration – they were all behind this idea 100 percent,” Zilinek added. “Our coaches have been getting the word out, too, and they’re really pushing this.

“We think this is a great thing for Lower Cape May, our athletic program and our kids in general. We don’t want to see these cardiac incidents again (this) year. If this testing can prevent even one of them, then it’s definitely worth it.”

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Athletic Trainer Elizabeth Thomason uses AED to help save soccer player’s life

Article reposted from
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It started out as just another typical summer day — morning practice for the Catholic High boys soccer team so the players could enjoy the rest of the day and avoid the oppressive South Louisiana summer heat.

Steven Champ had just returned from work and dropped off his son, also Steven, at practice and was headed home.

At practice, the younger Champ and the rest of the soccer team had done some warmups and were in the middle of a sprint drill when something went wrong.

“The players had just finished warming up and were doing some sprints,” CHS assistant soccer coach Michael Pope said. “They were on the third sprint. I was watching the other players and Coach Adam (CHS head boys soccer coach Adam Glover) grabbed my attention and that’s when I turned around and saw Steven on the ground.

“I knew then something serious had happened.”

Champ had collapsed and was convulsing and not breathing. Pope ran to him and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Glover called head football coach and athletic director Brent Indest, who called head athletic trainer Elizabeth “Biz” Thomason.

“It was a typical start of the week. Normal workouts had begun,” Thomason said. “We were just getting back into the swing of things and I was hanging out in the training room waiting to see if anyone needed me.

“Then I get a call from Coach Indest that I was needed urgently out in the front of school.”

Instincts kicking in, Thomason grabbed what she needed out of the training room, including Catholic High’s brand new Automated External Defibrilator (AED) and ran to where she was needed.

It would prove to be a fortuitous grab.

“I wasn’t gone five minutes when Coach Glover called me and told me to come back to the field,” said the elder Champ. “Coach Glover told me that Steven had collapsed and it looked like he was seizing and (asked) had this ever happened before. I told him no.”

At first, the elder Champ thought his son had a hamstring issue, because he’d had previous issues with hamstrings. When he got the news that his son had collapsed, his mindset immediately changed.

Back on the practice field, Pope had gone through two rounds of CPR when Thomason showed up with the AED.

By that time, Champ got back to the field and saw the CHS staff working on his son.

“I ran to the field and when I got there he had no pulse and wasn’t breathing,” Champ said. “I’m sitting there shouting at him in his ear. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Biz coming up with something over her shoulder. I didn’t know what it was at the time but I was in a panic.”

Thomason said it took her less than five minutes to get to where Champ was on the practice field with the AED, which was donated to Catholic High by Nativity of Our Lady Church four weeks ago and was moved into the trainer’s room at the field house two weeks later.

“We have one at the school and we moved this one into the trainer’s room so if we needed it, it would be closer to where the kids practice,” said Thomason, who quickly assessed the situation, removed Champ’s shirt and hooked up the AED.

“We set up the AED and I never thought I’d hear the words, ‘shock advised.’ So the shock was delivered and you could see the life go back into him.”

After the shock delivered by the AED, Pope continued CPR on the younger Champ and an ambulance showed up shortly after, with paramedics taking over resuscitation efforts.

Champ first went to Iberia Medical Center for a couple of hours, according to his father, then to Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Lafayette for a couple of days and finally Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, where they spent five days.

“They did a procedure on him and he was released from the hospital June 14,” said Champ.

According to his father, doctors still aren’t sure exactly what happened to the younger Champ on that June Moning. All that anyone knows for sure is that according to the AED, Champ had no cardio activity going on and was shocked to get his heart started.

The Catholic High sophomore athlete has been to New Orleans for doctor’s visits in the past month and has been undergoing genetic testing. The examining doctors believe that he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy but that hasn’t been officially diagnosed.

He is expected to be sidelined for the next three to six months before he can start playing soccer again but he has told his father that he will play again.

“Since the incident, my son has been in real good spirits,” said the elder Champ. “It was actually his idea to put this message out because if he can save one life, it’s all worth it.”

Champ added that it is very important that parents convince the schools that having one or more AED’s on campus and having people that know how to use them in case another student, or athlete or parent has some type of similar medical emergency.

Thomason added that several times each year, Catholic High holds drills for just such an emergency. 

The school has two AED’s already and plan to add two more and have them placed around campus so that one isn’t too far away if and when they are needed.

“Everything worked like it should have,” said Thomason. “All the protocols we have in place worked from the coaches and trainers knowing what to do.

“It can’t be emphasized enough just how important it is to have an AED available. Without it, this could have ended differently.”

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More on the Life Saving Efforts of Ohio Athletic Trainer

A Centerville senior was minutes away from losing his life during his final regular season lacrosse game.

On Saturday, Moeller varsity lacrosse team hosted Centerville at home.

Centerville team captain Grant Mays, 17, was hit in his chest with the ball during a routine on-goal shot at the start of the third quarter.

Watch this story

Seconds later, after he scooped up the ball and passed to a teammate, he collapsed near the 40-yard line.

Moeller head athletic trainer Craig Lindsey said he didn’t see the hit, but as soon as Mays fell, he ran onto the field.

“His legs get really wobbly … then he collapses all in one motion,” Lindsey said. “As soon as I lifted his jersey up and saw the reddened area, I knew we were dealing with an event called commodial cortis event. It’s where the heart is in between beats and there is a direct blow to the chest wall.”

The cardiac emergency is so rare, it’s only been documented 180 times in the last 20 years. But Lindsey said based on his education and training, he immediately knew what was happening to Mays’ heart.

“It throws the heart into this quivering nonfunctional state,” Lindsey said. “It’s one of those things where you hope it doesn’t happen on your clock but if it does, you prepare for it.”

Lindsey knew Mays needed his heart to be shocked back into a normal rhythm and there was a small window of time to do so.

Luckily, Lindsey always carries, an Automated External Defibrillator, AED, to every game and practice he attends with the team. It was on the sidelines for Saturday’s game.

“Thank God we had the accessibility of it and we were able to put it to use and we had a positive outcome which is the blessing at the end of the day,” Lindsey said.

Centerville Lacrosse head coach Troy Stehlin said Lindsey’s quick thinking and immediate action saved Mays’ life.

“It was certainly a scary moment because it was not a routine exhaustion,” Stehlin said. “That AED was the difference between a young man going on to succeed at Miami University and whatever else he has in store and him not moving on with that part of his life.”

Stehlin said Mays was taken to the hospital Saturday but has been released and doing great at home. He is scheduled to return to school Wednesday for his last day as a senior and will graduate this weekend.

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Athletic Trainer’s Quick Response Saves Lacrosse Player

Grant Mays was not able to attend the Centerville High School scholar-athlete banquet Sunday. Considering the events of Saturday, the Elks lacrosse captain was fortunate to even make it to Sunday.

The senior midfielder appeared to make a gutsy play shortly after halftime of a game at Moeller, where the Elks trailed the Crusaders, 8-2. A Crusader shot on goal hit Mays on the left side of his chest, below his heart. On instinct, he picked up the ground ball and started running down field.

Then, he collapsed. Immediately, the referee stopped play.

“We knew something was pretty serious right away,” Moeller coach Sean McGinnis said. “They stopped the game and got the medical personnel out there. Then, it took a turn for the worse as his rhythm was off.”

That’s when the experience of Moeller head trainer Craig Lindsey and head of security Rich Wallace paid off. Lindsey had passed up a local training conference to preside over two events on Moeller’s back fields – the lacrosse game and a rugby match. He also had the foresight to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) on site with contact sports on adjacent fields.

When it appeared standard methods were not going to be enough to revive Mays, University of Cincinnati intern Ashley Higginbotham ran off the sidelines and returned with the AED. Fortunately, a Centerville parent, Mike Jones, an emergency medical technician, was in the crowd, along with Dr. Rob Hill from Florida, who was in town to watch his Moeller son, Griffin.

Total team effort

All hands were on deck, including another Beacon Orthopaedics trainer, Josh Horner, from Princeton whom Lindsey had procured with multiple events on campus.

From the second Mays went down, this team of heroes sprung into action.

Eventually, they placed the device’s pads on Grant’s chest and, after one shock, he started breathing on his own. Not long after, Sycamore Township paramedics showed up and by the time Mays was in the ambulance, he was starting to stabilize. Wallace, an EMT himself and police chief of Amberley Village, had placed the 911 call earlier in the process.

“Without the AED, it could have gone the other way,” Lindsey said. “We’re so blessed that it did it’s job. You take it to practice and games every single day, but I never had to use it in 21 years.”

A rare occurrence

What occurred to Mays was a condition called “commotio cordis.” It’s something Lindsey and all trainers learn in college and is defined as a lethal disruption of heart rhythm caused by a direct blow to the chest while the heart is in between beats.

“When that happens, it sends the heart into a quivering state,” Lindsey said. “It’s not beating efficiently. It’s like the heart muscle is twitching and not firing.”

Whomever may have had doubts of the power of prayer before had to have at least come away with something to think about during those tense moments. Both teams gathered around the scene and all was quiet except for the sound of “Hail Mary” being repeated by those kneeling near Mays.

After Grant collapsed, the players witnessed his mother sprinting toward her son and sobbing.

“We held hands and did the only thing we knew to do: pray. Pray hard and loud,” Moeller junior lacrosse player Adam Kohlman said. “That kid needed us and that Mom needed us.”

While his son was being attended to, Doug Mays walked around the field asking spectators to pray. The nearby rugby game also stopped and those players joined in the spiritual efforts while Lindsey’s crew worked fervently on resuscitating Mays.

“It was almost like the perfect storm,” McGinnis said. “It’s a great blessing to have the right people watching our game and taking a tragic situation and turning it in to a positive result.”

Mays was taken to a hospital to be seen by a cardiologist. Lindsey, Wallace and McGinnis drove up later and were able to see Mays and his parents in the emergency room.

Preparation is crucial

Because of Grant’s prescribed need for rest, his father is speaking for him until he is fully recuperated. Doug and Kelley Mays are forever grateful for the presence of qualified medical personnel and the presence of an AED.

“The biggest thing I can take away is the importance of having those devices, having them readily available and certified and having the training to use them,” Mays said. “These devices aren’t limited to athletes. Certainly, in this case, the athlete was the beneficiary. They can be life savers.”

The proof came shortly after the shock was administered. The first words from Grant Mays were, “Wow! I feel great!” according to his father. Of course, he was then advised to remain stable to allow the trained experts to continue their efforts.

The game was never finished, but the outcome was one for the ages. No one left the field with a loss.

“I felt helpless, his mother felt helpless,” Mays said. “When he drove away in the (life) squad, we felt very humbled. When he left the field on the gurney, I had my son back.”

Pretty much the entire campus had stopped what it was doing to surround Grant and his parents with prayer.

“We felt like we were part of a miracle,” Kohlman said.

The men of Moeller deliver

McGinnis has seen his team’s faith tested on and off the field. By tradition, the team prays at the statue of Mary on campus before climbing the stairs to compete at the Gerry Faust Complex. Faust himself still kisses the statue at every visit.

The Moeller mission on their website says the following:

As a Catholic school in the Marianist Tradition, Archbishop Moeller High School is a Christ-centered community, focusing on faith formation, academic achievement, individual growth, and service to others.

The mission was accomplished on this particular day when the sport no longer mattered, but the service and faith did. As grueling an opponent as Moeller can be, they can also be compassionate to a fallen foe.

“That’s what being a ‘Man of Moeller’ is,” McGinnis said. “A school like that is building faith in these young men.”

Added Mays, “Lacrosse is truly a family sport. It’s unique. The lacrosse family is just different than other sports. To have it happen at Moeller is wonderful because the Moeller lacrosse family is second to none.”

Moeller now turns toward the tournament where they will face Walnut Hills on May 18 on the same field. They will pray at the statue, then battle the Eagles. Craig Lindsey and the training staff hope to get an easy game where only ice and water are needed.

They’ll be there well before the game begins and long after it ends. They often toil in anonymity taping and wrapping athletes to keep them on the field. On occasion, the job becomes “bigger than life” when a life is saved.

Thanks to a prepared response, Centerville Elks senior Grant Mays will have an 18th birthday and graduate. He’ll be a student at Miami University in the fall.

While Grant’s lacrosse career may be over by choice, the Mays family strongly supports the lacrosse community, knowing what happened was an extremely rare situation.

“That’s part of the game,” Doug Mays said. “The kid that shot the ball is in our thoughts and prayers as much as he has Grant in his thoughts and prayers.

“I can’t emphasize enough how we appreciate all of those people that helped.”

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Texas Athletic Trainer and Patient Reflect on Life Saving Day

The last thing that Temple High School sophomore De’Aveun Banks remembers about the day he collapsed was attending track practice on March 30 at Wildcat Stadium.

No warning. No preexisting condition. No way this would be the end for the 16-year-old student-athlete who lay motionless on the ground with a faint pulse.

De’Aveun’s mother, Shanee Banks, and Windee Skrabanek, an athletic trainer for the Temple Independent School District who administered CPR to De’Aveun in those crucial moments before the ambulance arrived, talked about the near-tragedy publicly for the first time Monday.

Skrabanek said it was like an ordinary day at work, until a couple of her athletic training students ran into the training room yelling for her.

“You feel that sense of urgency and you start running and kids are screaming your name,” she said. “And when I got there — he was on the ground.”

An overwhelmed Skrabanek broke down into tears recalling that specific moment. The mood in the room was heavy as De’Aveun rolled over to her in his chair placing his arm around her shoulders — comforting the athletic trainer who saved his life.

“I started just rubbing on his chest saying, ‘De’, De’, De’ — can you hear me? Hey! Talk to me! Talk to me!’” Skrabanek said.

When he didn’t respond all 15 years of Skrabanek’s experience as an athletic trainer took over.

“That is when you go into the emergency action plan,” Skrabanek said.

What Skrabanek describes may have seemed like organized chaos, with coaches calling 911, her shouting protocol commands and students standing back in disbelief.

 Skrabanek said they immediately brought out the automated external defibrillator, a portable device that can diagnose life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias and can deliver electrical therapy as needed.

As they waited for the ambulance, during that 5-minute window, Skrabanek worked on De’Aveun.

“At this time we are checking for a pulse,” she said. “It was at that time we stuck the pads on and the AED (defibrillator) takes over from there — so then that becomes your coach.”

The defibrillator, which uses verbal and visual commands while keeping track of time and each action taken, initially surveys the condition of the heart.

“Those 10 seconds of analyzing seemed like 15 minutes,” she said. “But then it did a shock right away and then says, ‘Check airway. Check breathing. Check circulation. Start CPR’— and then I started CPR right away.”

She went back and forth with CPR as the defibrillator sent shocks to De’Aveun’s chest.

 “The fact that he was already getting five minutes of care prior to them getting there … it was a miracle that he was where he was and we had personnel there with the right equipment,” she said.

De’Aveun was transported to McLane Children’s Scott & White Hospital. After being in critical but stable condition, he was airlifted to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston where he received specialized pediatric heart care in the intensive care unit for 2½ weeks.

“No history, no health issues. He has always been — just healthy,” Shanee said.

Skrabanek said doctors, who are still running tests, are leaning towards a condition called myocarditis. It is the inflammation of the heart that often has no symptoms and can occur as a result of an infection.

De’Aveun returned to school April 18, less than three weeks after his collapse. He now wears a LifeVest under his shirt. It is a wearable defibrillator that monitors his heart and provides feedback to doctors in Houston.

“They are reading it 24 hours, but mostly while he sleeps,” Shanee Banks said.

He meets regularly with his doctors in Temple to monitor his progress.

De’Aveun hopes to return to a winning Wildcat football team as a linebacker — as of right now he is not allowed do any physical activity.

“He works with his position’s group in the mental aspect,” Skrabanek said. “He motivates and helps coach them up.”

His mother said she is supportive of his return to sports.

“That is his passion. It is what he loves and has been all he has known since he was 6,” Shanee said.

As for De’Aveun, the second oldest of three siblings, he said he is not worried about the future.

“I am feeling great,” De’Aveun said.

“He is back to the same old, bubbly, smiling kid that is full of energy,” Shanee said. “It is a blessing! I am overjoyed, but overly protective now.”

De’Aveun said he is grateful for Skrabanek and her efforts.

“I am glad she was there, at the right time — to bring me back,” De’Aveun said.

“This is the best reward right here,” the trainer said, tapping De’Aveun on the knee. “Seeing him throughout was amazing. It wasn’t just me, it was everyone who worked together to follow the actions that needed to take place.”

Shanee said she not only appreciates his classmates and school who were excited for his return, but the entire community rallying behind her son.

“The community, people near and far,” Shanee said. “…We are blessed. He is blessed. We are just grateful that he is here with us.”

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Athletic Trainer and School Nurse Save Pregnant Women’s Life

A pregnant woman who collapsed due to heart failure in February 2013 miraculously came back to life after her baby was delivered (video below).

Erica Nigrelli, 32, an English teacher at Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas, was 36 weeks pregnant when she passed out at school, CNN reported in May 2013.

Erica had reportedly just walked into a coworker’s classroom when she suddenly felt faint. The woman put both hands on a table to steady herself but then collapsed.

“I put my head down and I essentially just passed out,” she told Click2Houston.

Three staff members at the school, including the nurse, her assistant and an athletic trainer, immediately sprang into action to try to save Erica’s life. They performed CPR and used a defribrilator to get her heart beating again.

Students in the classroom ran out yelling for help, and Nathan Nigrelli, Erica’s husband who also taught at the school, heard the commotion and hurried into the room.

By the time paramedics arrived and rushed the woman to the hospital, her heart was no longer beating. Doctors delivered her baby daughter, Elayna, three weeks early via emergency cesarean section in what they believed was a postmortem delivery.

When they turned back to Erica after delivering her child, however, they discovered that her heart had started beating again.

Erica spent several weeks in the intensive care unit, during which she was in a medically-induced coma for five days. Her baby was also treated in an intensive care unit at a different hospital for two weeks. The child was finally taken off oxygen when she was 3 months old and weighed about 9 pounds, according to Click2Houston.

Doctors said Erica was suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes the heart muscle to thicken and makes it more difficult to pump blood.

“Nine times out of ten most people die from the initial collapse,” Erica told Click2Houston.  “It was literally a ticking time bomb, it just happened when I was 36 weeks pregnant.”

The three staff members at Elkins High School who helped save Erica’s life after she collapsed were honored at a Missouri City council meeting in May 2013.

“Thankful is not a strong enough word for what they’ve done for us,” Erica said.

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Teen Saved by AED and Prepared Athletic Trainer


A Layton teen is alive and well thanks to a well-trained and quick-thinking athletic trainer at Northridge High School. Leigh Otis is a full time teacher and part-time athletic trainer who can now ad hero to her title.

The Davis County woman administered CPR and an used an automated external defibrillator, or AED, to get a 17-year-old boy breathing and alert by the time paramedics arrived.

The teen was rushed originally to Davis Hospital and then by ground ambulance to Primary Children’s Hospital late Wednesday.

While the teen’s family is not releasing his name or condition, his school, who’s been in contact with the family said he’s doing well — especially considering the fact the ending of this story could have been far different.

The story started Wednesday afternoon when the Northridge football team stayed after school for pre-season strength training. Around 3:30 p.m. the 17-year-old walked out of the gym for a quick break with friends. In the hallway, a group stopped to get a drink.

“His friend was getting a drink of water and he collapsed on the floor.”

Otis said another athlete ran down a staircase just feet from the drinking fountain to her office where she was working. She sprinted up the stairs. He “wasn’t breathing, no pulse.”

Otis has taught CPR for years, but until that moment, had never had a need to use the skill. She went into autopilot.

“Emotionally I don’t think I was feeling anything, I was just taking care of him. It was my biggest concern. I didn’t think about what to do next I just started (chest) compressions.”

A student called 9-1-1 while Otis’ intern, Amanda Jennings, a Weber State student, ran for the AED at the bottom of the stairs.

Otis says she “did compressions and then ventilations while she attached it (AED) to him; once the AED was attached and ready to analyze the heart rhythm we stopped giving compressions.”

Once open, the AED gives step-by-step instructions on what to do. The foil was removed from the electronic paddles and placed on the teen’s chest. Nothing immediately happened after the shock, so the women continued with CPR.

A minute later, “we noticed he took a breath, he took another breath on his own and we checked for a pulse.” At that point the teen had a heartbeat but he was still unconscious.

Five minutes into the ordeal, the teen was alert and talking and could remember his name and where he was.

“Anyone can use it, even if you have never used it. If you have that same situation, you could pull it off the shelf and save a life.”

Otis has always been a proponent of using and keeping an AED nearby, but now she wants others to know they too can save a life.

Otis credits the lifesaving efforts to the AED, one of the six scattered through Northridge High. She carries her own portable one wherever she goes — including on the sidelines of games.

“I would hope anyone with the same training would do the same thing, everyone calls me a hero but I don’t feel that way.” Otis was getting emotional as she talked about her hero status saying “I just did what I was trying to do.”

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Utah Athletic Trainer Saves a Life

Two women are being praised as heroes for their quick action in saving the life of a 17-year-old Northridge High School student whose heart suddenly stopped beating at the school Wednesday afternoon.

Connor Moss, 17, was working out as part of Northridge High’s fitness program when he went into a hallway to cool off around 3:30 p.m. Within a few short moments, Moss lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground, according to Layton police.

Leigh Otis, a Northridge High athletic trainer who teaches EMS at the school, said she and another woman, a student athletic trainer from Weber State University, performed CPR on Moss and used a portable defibrillator to revive him.

“We had a lot of students who were very shaken up” by the incident, Otis said. “I’m probably still in a little bit of shock. … It’s what we’re trained to do, so I’m just glad I was there.”

Otis added that Moss was “stable and … responding to the doctors, so he is doing very well.”

Suzanne Moss, Connor’s mother, said her son would be evaluated Wednesday evening by doctors at Primary Children’s Hospital. She said she was filled with gratitude for those who rescued her son.

“The doctor … verified they did in fact save his life. His heart had stopped. And if they hadn’t been there with the equipment and knowledge they had, they said he probably would have died,” Suzanne Moss said. “I just want to thank (the women) for what they did for my son. They saved his life.”

Suzanne Moss said Connor remembers nothing about what happened.

Layton Police Sgt. Clint Bobrowski said it isn’t clear what caused Connor Moss to collapse. He said the teen was conscious, breathing and alert by the time emergency responders arrived at the scene.

Bobrowski and Layton Fire Department spokesman Doug Bitton both praised the women’s preparedness Wednesday.

“The Davis School District and local school administrators have acted upon the recommendations of our department to place (defibrillators) within this school,” Bitton said in a statement. “The heroic efforts of a well-trained staff and a good maintenance program in keeping the batteries ready to go in this (defibrillator) clearly made a difference here today.”

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Bethlehem schools honor coach, athletic trainer who saved reporter’s life

March 11 should have been like any other day in Marty Myers’ more than 20-year career as a sports writer.

He walked into Freedom High School to cover a basketball game between Dunmore High and Philadelphia’s Imhotep Charter School for the Scranton Times-Tribune. But before he even stepped into the gym, he collapsed in the school’s lobby.

Myers, 59, doesn’t remember any of it, he said Monday night. But he went into cardiac arrest, and fell so hard that he would later need 17 staples to the head.

“I was walking into the gym, I looked in the gym and saw the Dunmore girls stretching, and the next thing I know, I was in the back of an ambulance,” Myers said.

Luckily for Myers, he had a team around him that was trained in how to respond quickly in a situation like that. Freedom basketball coach Joe Stellato immediately started CPR, and Freedom athletic trainer Dana Bennett soon reached Myers to begin work with an automated external defibrillator.

The small, portable machines can deliver a potentially life-saving shock to those who go into sudden cardiac arrest, in addition to using an automated voice that guides the user on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Maureen Burke, Dunmore’s athletic trainer, also worked on Myers. Bennett and Stellato were honored by the school district at Monday’s school board meeting.

The whole thing happened so quickly, both Bennett and Stellato said.

“There was no time to think at all,” said Bennett, 23.

Bennett, who had never met Myers, went to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill later that night to make sure he was OK. Myers thanked her and Stellato, but even that seemed not enough, he said.

“I owe them everything,” Myers said. “I don’t know what to say, other than ‘thank you,’ and that doesn’t seem enough. It never will be.”

Bennett, Stellato and Myers said if Myers was going to go into cardiac arrest anywhere, he was lucky that he was in a place that had people who know CPR and had defibrillators on hand.

“I don’t know how lucky one guy can be,” Myers said.

Stellato, who gets training every year in CPR and the automated external defibrillator, said he doesn’t know what was going on in his head that night. It was the first time he’s ever had to put his training to use.

“I was just focused on what to do next,” he said.

Rachel Moyer, whose 15-year-old son, Gregory Moyer, died 15 years ago after collapsing at a basketball game, was also at Monday’s meeting to present the district with eight automated external defibrillators.

Since Gregory’s death, Moyer has advocated for the widespread availability of defibrillators.

Only 23 states require defibrillators in at least some of their schools, according to the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, a Pittsburgh nonprofit that advocates for more access to AEDs. Pennsylvania is not one of them.

“I couldn’t bring [Gregory] back, but I can make sure that all our school districts have AEDs on site, people know where they are, and people know how to use them,” she said.

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Athletic Trainer and Coach Use AED to Save Life


The quick action by a coach and athletic trainer likely saved the life of a local athlete who collapsed during track practice last week.

The Revere High School student athlete, Caleb Perkins, was at track practice Friday afternoon when he went into full cardiac arrest, collapsing onto the track, according to Bath Township Police Chief Mike McNeely.
A coach told the teen’s teammates to get the athletic trainer and the AED (an automated external defibrillator), while he performed CPR.

The athletic trainer arrived with the AED and shocked the boy’s heart before EMS arrived, paramedics said.

Lt. George Seifert, from the Bath Township Fire Department, said paramedics then shocked the boy’s heart one more time and got a pulse.

Seifert believes the actions of the coach and athletic trainer saved the teen’s life.

“It was huge, huge factor in this whole outcome. Quick CPR is key in sudden cardiac events, and then the application use of the AED only enhances the chances of survival,” Seifert said.

Perkins, a junior at the school, was taken to Akron Children’s hospital and then transported to the Cleveland Clinic by medical helicopter.

According to McNeely, the teen was conscious as of Monday morning.

Dr. Terry Gordon, a retired cardiologist, said the rescue illustrates why he believes AED’s should be mandatory at all schools.

“Every minute that goes by without them being resuscitated with a shock from an AED, their chance of survival drops by 10 percent for every minute,” Dr. Gordon said.

Gordon led a successful push to get AED’s in every Summit County school after a 15-year-old Barberton football player died from cardiac arrest in 2000.

“Children do have cardiac arrest and the only good treatment is an AED,” he said.

Revere Local Schools provided this statement to newsnet5.com:

On Friday, March 18, we had an incident involving a student at Revere Local Schools who was in need of emergency treatment. Our staff did provide emergency services while waiting for the EMS team to arrive. Due to the fact that this involves confidential medical information, we cannot release any additional information at this time.

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