When someone goes into cardiac arrest, the quick response of those nearby can make the difference between life and death. Access to an automatic external defibrillator — an AED — can also significantly increase the likelihood of survival. Thankfully, Texas students who helped revive a history teacher who went into cardiac arrest had both.
In early November, Adam Compton experienced a medical emergency. The scary incident happened during a skate club he sponsors with his students at MacArthur High School in San Antonio, Texas. Because of the high-schoolers’ quick reactions and knowhow, Compton is alive and well today.
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On November 7, Compton, 46, went into cardiac arrest at the skate club he sponsors at the Texas school. The history teacher started feeling “out of it” while skating with students, Cleveland 19 News reported. Not long afterward, he passed out and was lifeless.
After Compton collapsed, two students, Aidan Anthony-Gonzalez and Steven Amaro, quickly retrieved the AED, KSAT 12 reported. Another student called 911. Meanwhile, their classmates found the school’s athletic trainer, Amanda Boyd, to help tend to Compton.
Miraculously, Amaro was ADR-CPR certified a few weeks before Compton collapsed.
“I opened everything up, put the pads on him, and that’s when the paramedics came and I let them take over,” the high school senior told KSAT 12. “I never thought I would have to do it in person because it’s something you don’t expect. And it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing that should never happen to anyone.”
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“I turned [Compton] over and looked for a pulse, and I couldn’t find any, and from there I knew he needed CPR,” Boyd told KSAT 12.
Amaro explained that Boyd gave Compton the shock from the AED that “revived” him. Soon afterward, first responders arrived and took over.
Thankfully, Compton has been discharged from the hospital and returned to school following his cardiac arrest episode. “I’m still processing how slim the chances were. It’s really humbling,” Compton told Cleveland 19 News.
He told KSAT 12, “We had Thanksgiving not long after that, and I think the thing that I kept experiencing not long after that over that holiday was looking at my wife and kids and just thinking, ‘I almost didn’t have this.'”
