Teachers, principal save boy with defibrillator
07:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 11, 2008
REDMOND, Wash. - A 13-year-old Redmond boy is alive thanks to his teachers and school principal.
They gave him CPR and used a defibrillator to re-start his heart after he collapsed in gym class last Thursday at the Redmond Junior High School.
When Levi Pocza collapsed, PE teacher Chris Broderick ran to call 9-1-1.
“When I came back into the room the other teacher said Levi didn't have a pulse,” Broderick said.
Broderick started CPR, doing the breaths while principal Prato Baronee did the compressions.
Football coach Scott Hagerman -- freshly trained in using the school's automated external defibrillator, or AED -- rushed it into the gym.
“It actually administered the shock, bringing him back to CPR state, and it said resume CPR and that's what we did,” Broderick said.
For at least 10 minutes, they kept Levi alive until medics arrived and airlifted Levi to Children's Hospital. As far as doctors can tell, Levi suffered no brain damage.
And Levi’s grateful parents say the AED and trained teachers are the reason.
“My hope is that people get serious in schools or daycares and learn how to do these things and how to use these machines,” Sierra Pocza said.








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