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Windee Skrabanek Receives SWATA Award for Life Saving Efforts

Article reposted from tdtnews.com
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Windee Skrabanek was recently honored by the Southwest Athletic Trainers’ Association for saving the life of a Temple High School athlete last year.

Skrabanek, who teaches sports medicine at Temple High and heads up the student athletic training program, was one of three trainers to receive the 2017 Excellence in Athletic Training Award at the SWATA Honors & Awards Ceremony held in San Marcos in July.

In March 2016, Temple High School athlete De’Aveun Banks collapsed during training. Skrabanek kept him alive by doing CPR and administering electric shocks from an Automated External Defibrillator until an ambulance arrived.

Skrabanek said it was an honor to receive the award. She said she enjoyed being able to share experiences with other trainers who had faced similar crises at the San Marcos awards ceremony.

“It was really neat to be there with some of the other people,” Skrabanek said. “I knew one of the athletic trainers that was at Texas State that received the award as well. … It can be a traumatic thing, and (it helps) to be able to talk about it with somebody else that just went through it.”

The Excellence in Athletic Training Award is presented to athletic trainers who intervened in a situation where someone would most likely have died or experienced life-altering injuries without the trainer’s assistance.

Banks later learned that he has a congenital heart defect that caused him to go into cardiac arrest. After a long recovery, he still attends football practice and goes to every game, although his doctors will not allow him to play.

“I’m grateful that she saved me, and to all the people that were there,” Banks said.

Banks does not remember the sudden collapse or the first few weeks of recovery. After spending the night in Scott & White Medical Center-Temple, he was flown to Houston for further treatment, and it was several weeks before he fully regained consciousness. He will be a senior this coming school year.

“Receiving this award is a true honor, but the rewarding part is having the student still with us today,” Skrabanek said in a release. “Seeing that smiling face each day is a reminder of how precious life is.”

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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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