Two Okanagan teachers were given honors by the British Columbia Emergency Health Services. During gym classes about a few months ago a 13 year old student named Dilshaan Dhaliwal went into cardiac arrest. Two teachers Steve Podomorow and Mike Russo were present in the area and they immediately provided CPR and an AED or the automated external defibrillator on the boy.
Saving a life
According to one of the teachers, using the AED gave him the best chance of reviving the boy. It was vital of his success.
According to Podomorow he stated in news, that during a joint gym class with my senior students and Grade 8 students of Mike Russo, a student named Dhaliwal collapse after a 12 minute run. The Grade 8 student handed his running result to Russo and was not feeling well and walked past in front of me and just went into cardiac arrest.
Mike Russo was a first aid teacher in the school. He checked the boy and called emergency numbers. He immediately provided CPR on Dhaliwal. According to the teachers, a 911 dispatcher stayed on the phone with them and helped them throughout the process. We shocked the boy with the AED and started providing CPR on the boy within two to three minutes. Russo estimated that he performed CPR for at least eight to nine minutes. Paramedics arrived and brought the boy to the Children’s Hospital for further treatment.
Podomorow and Russo were very fortunate that an AED is available. The easy accessibility to an AED, in addition to CPR saved the life of the Grade 8 student. The AED at the South Okanagan Secondary School were donated by the Coronary Treatment Foundation.
The two teachers, Podomorow and Mike Russo who is also a volunteer fireman, were given the Vital Link Award by the British Columbia Emergency Health Services.
According to Podomorow, Dhaliwal is recovering at home and still have to undergo another procedure. Students and teachers of the school are all excited for his return in school and hope to see him around here very soon.
Some schools across the Okanagan have AED’s but some do not have. The North Okanagan-Shuswap School District announces that they are adding defibrillators to all its schools over the next three years.
For more information about this story, click here.
LEARN MORE
Learn how to help by enrolling in a first aid class and for more information, check out these sources: