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FWISD Athletic Trainer Jumps to Action, Saves Student-Athlete Who Stops Breathing
There’s no time to think when a student stops breathing. At a moment’s notice, you just have to jump to action and do what’s needed to save a life.
On the morning of January 27, Bill Aman, athletic trainer at Western Hills High School, experienced the moment firsthand. A student-athlete, taken out of a morning basketball game, fell ill and later experienced a seizure and stopped breathing. Mr. Aman administered chest compressions and applied two automated external defibrillator (AED) shocks that ultimately saved the student’s life.
“You don’t really think about it,” Mr. Aman said. “Your brain just goes into a mode where you just do it.
“The more preparation you have ahead of time, the less panic you have when something happens.”
The student is now stable and recovering in a local hospital.
In his 25 years as an athletic trainer, this is the first time Mr. Aman has ever used an AED.
Mr. Aman said the incident was unlike anything he’s practiced and has left him with a sense of looking at what he could have done better and how he can be more prepared if he ever has to use an AED again.
Dr. Lisa Langston, interim athletic director, said it’s a miracle that the incident occurred at a time when the student could receive immediate medical attention. Without it, she said doctors say the student would not be alive.
“As Bill told me, he just did his job, but as I told him, he did it phenomenally well on that day,” Dr. Langston said.
Dr. Langston added that the District is sending positive thoughts to the student and family and are hopeful for a speedy recovery.
“I’m just very blessed that things turned out the way they did” she said. “I’m very thankful for our coaches and athletic trainers.”
Coaches and athletic trainers are required to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and AED training. Texas statute requires that school districts make AEDs available on all school campuses and that the devices are “readily available” for use at University Interscholastic League (UIL) - sanctioned athletic activities.
The Fort Worth ISD has 252 AED devices available at campuses and facilities throughout the District, said Alice Turner-Jackson, FWISD health services director.
The Western Hills High School incident is just the latest in which school personnel have saved a student’s life after collapsing. On January 19, coaches and a nurse in Mansfield saved the life 13-year-old middle school student who collapsed.
The District last used an AED on a student in 2009 when coaches and a trainer at Trimble Tech High School responded to a baseball player who collapsed while running around the school track.
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