'Stay on the line': 911 dispatcher helps teacher save student's life

"Hello, B.C. Ambulance here."

Dispatcher Colin Terry remembers the warm sunny day last year when he took the call.

"Even before I knew what was going on, I knew in her voice this was going to be something bad."

Elementary school teacher Wendy Swain had taken her students out for a recess break. The children were playing, when one suddenly fell to the ground.

"I hustled over and what I saw was my student looking very dead," said Swain.

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The student, whose identity and school arenot being revealedfor privacy reasons, had gone into sudden cardiac arrest.

"You're cutting in and out, but I already have help started," Terrysaid to Swain during the 10-minute 911call.

Advocating for defibrillators

The stricken childwould survive, thanks to Swain and Terry's efforts.

Despite the positive outcome, Swain believes she could have helped the student earlier had the school had an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Defibrillatorsare portable electronic devices that automaticallydiagnose life-threateningcardiacarrhythmiasand sendelectric shocks through the chest wall of a person whose heart has stopped beating.

"If they had the defibrillator in the three to four minutes I sent for it, [the child] would've been revived in half the time," said Swain.

Health officials say every second counts after a cardiac arrest.

Since the incident, Swain has tried to persuade the Vancouver School Board to get automated external defibrillators at all its schools.

Reliving the call

Swain and Terry met for the first time last week since thestudent collapsed,and listened to the call together at the B.C. Ambulance dispatch centre.

"Because the [cellphone] connection was so poor, I told Wendy, that if I ask her a question, I wanted her to say every answer twice. So, I would havetwice the chance of understanding what was happening," said Terry.

The phone connection improved and Terry was able to calmly talk Swain through the steps of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until paramedics arrived on scene.

Listen to Terry and Swain re-live the call:

'I will tell you exactly what to do next'

He told her to send someone to find a defibrillator. Whatfollowed wereseemingly endless moments of Wendy administering chest compressions on the student roughly 600 timesuntil help arrived.

They counted together.

"Start counting out loud now. 1, 2, 3, 4. Push, push, push, push."

A defibrillator never arrived. Luckily, paramedics were close by.Doctors don't know why the child went into cardiac arrest, but has made a full recovery.

Swain said the incident underscores the need for schools to have these devices.Right now, several B.C. schooldistrictshave defibrillators in all theirschools, including West Vancouver, Coquitlam, Fraser-Cascade andSunshine Coast. New Westminster is in the process of installing AEDs at all its schools.

Butschools within the Vancouver School Board don'thave AED'sfor public use unless a child has a medical condition and a physician asksto make one available.

Notlegislated or recommended

In B.C.,there is also no legislationrequiring schools to have AEDs. Andthe office of the provincial health officer B.C.'s senior public health official doesn't recommend it.

In a statement, the office said AEDsare rarely needed in a school setting. As well, theyrequiremaintenance by trained personnel "so the overall benefit is not demonstrated in a school setting."

Instead, the office said it supports putting defibrillatorsin settings where sudden cardiac arrest is more likely, such as recreation centres.

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Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi, head of cardiac surgery at B.C. Children's Hospital, disagrees with the provincial health officer'sargument that the devices aren't needed in schools.In fact, Ghandithinks all schools should carrythem.

"It makes no sense," he said. "All you have to do is see one of these children survive from anAED. Every place should have them," he said.

• A defibrillator was nearby when his heart stopped not even 911 knew where it was

Gandhi said there is evidence showingAEDs are among themost important tools in saving a person insudden cardiac arrest, adding they'redesigned for those with no training.

Gandhi said without the use of an AED someone suffering from sudden cardiac arrest could die or if they do survive can suffer brain damage.