ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Three Fort Pierce Central High School staff members and two sheriff’s deputies were honored with Hero Awards on May 20, for saving a student during a cardiac emergency.
The five awardees coordinated to save the life of high school student Eduardo Ortiz, 16, when he collapsed without a pulse during a sudden cardiac arrest on campus April 23, St. Lucie County Assistant Fire Chief Brian Gonzales said.
“They quickly recognized the signs of cardiac arrest,” Gonzales said. “They immediately began life-saving efforts. They were calm under pressure. They did what they needed to do, and they did what they were trained to do.”
Latoya Wilder and Trurlette Noble, health paraprofessionals at St. Lucie Public Schools who assist licensed clinicians, alongside with Health Education Teacher Michael Watkins received the Citizen Hero Awards at the Fire District Administrative Office, 5160 NW Milner Drive, Port St. Lucie.
The Public Safety Hero Awards were for Deputy Blake Behrsin and Deputy Robert-Daniel Lyons of the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
Watkins was the first one to help Ortiz on April 23, after feeling what he described as “panic.”
“We saw him gasping trying to breathe and then, checking the pulse, we felt like there was nothing there, so I started doing compressions,” Watkins said.
While it was his first time saving a life, it was not the first time Watkins and school district professionals practiced cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
“We have training every year, first aid, CPR, and (automated external defibrillator),” Wilder said. “With that training, it made it all that much easier to know ‘this is what I’ve been training for, this what I got to do.’”
Wilder advised parents, students and community members to attend training and use first aid resources and other prevention resources to recognize cardiac emergencies.
“I didn’t realize how surreal it was until I was cutting off his shirt, getting ready to apply the AED, and I realized ‘this is happening, this is it,’” Wilder said.
Wilder and Noble arrived with the AED before first responders got there, providing the critical assistance to Ortiz.
“I am feeling good about the award, but great that I got a chance to see Eduardo walk in and be able to hug him and welcome him back on campus,” Noble said.
Clint Sperber, St. Lucie County administrator for the Florida Department of Health, also recognized the larger efforts to increase AED availability across Florida schools. He thanked the Jessica Clinton MVP Foundation, named after the 17-year-old Port St. Lucie cheerleader who died of cardiac arrest because of an undiagnosed heart disease on 2003.
The organization has donated over 200 AEDs and facilitated screening of undiagnosed heart conditions for over 5,000 kids in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health, according to Sperber.
“If an AED was on site, it could have saved her life,” Sperber said.
Deputies Behrsin and Lyons were unavailable for comment at the ceremony.
“Seeing (Ortiz) today just brought back so much joy because, you know, seeing him out there on the field was a totally different picture,” Wilder said. “Seeing him thriving makes me feel great, makes me feel awesome.”
Adrian Jimenez-Morales is a reporter for TCPalm/ Treasure Coast Newspapers. You can reach him at adrian.jimenez@tcpalm.com
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida school employees, sheriff’s deputies honored with hero awards
Reporting by Adrian Jimenez Morales, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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