A Fountain Hills Middle School teacher may have saved a student's life Wednesday morning when the seventh grader collapsed on school grounds.
Rural Metro firefighters responded to the school around 10 a.m. to reports of a boy suffering a seizure or cardiac event outside the school near the track.
Shawn Gilleland with the Rural Metro Fire District said a teacher was performing CPR on the child when firefighters arrived.
At that point, the firefighters took over care for the boy. When they transported him to the hospital, he had a strong pulse, was breathing and his blood pressure had gone back up, Gilleland said.
The boy had a prior medical condition that may have contributed to the cardiac event, according to Rural Metro FD.
"I think it's outstanding," Gilleland said of the teacher's response.
"I don’t think it’s a stretch to say this may have been a life-or-death situation for this child," he said.
It's not clear if the school requires CPR training for teachers, but Gilleland said he supports that as a growing trend.
"I know that many schools are going to that requirement that teachers have at least the minimum CPR training," he said.
School officials said they provided increased counseling for those at the school after the incident Wednesday.
