Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools May/June 2015 | Page 11

Quick thinking on part of Unionville Elementary
staff saves coworker’s life

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In the course of a school day, hundreds
of events occur that educators are trained
for and expect in education.
In the blink of an eye, however, the
unthinkable can happen and those same
individuals are forced to make a splitsecond decision that can literally save a
indoor activities in air conditioned gym with sport floorin
life.
Such was the case when Unionville
Elementary Principal Sharyn VonCannon
thought her school day would end normally,
with the ringing of the dismissal bell.
When she heard a 911 call over her
school radio, however, she knew the day
would end quite differently.
“As I bolted in the door from the bus lot,
Unionville Elementary
I discovered a staff member lying on the
School nurse Jill
Fagala, left, and
floor face down,” VonCannon said. “Within
This program will be held at
teacher assistant
a matter of seconds, a code blue was called
Karen Baucom, began
and the on-site medical response team Dickerson Center. This facility
was
CPR and utilized an
in full action.”
has recently undergone major
automated external
When no heartbeat or pulse could be
defibrillator (AED)
found on Lisa Staton, the after school renovations and now includes
when a coworker
director at the school, Unionville nurse an air conditioned gym with
Jill
collapsed when her
Fagala instructed the team members as to
heart stopped at
sport court flooring.
their next move.
school.
Teacher assistant Karen Baucom began
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) while Fagala unpacked the
automated external defibrillator (AED), a portable electronic device
that can diagnose a heart attack and apply electrical shock, which
hopefully will restore the heart to a normal rhythm.
“Within seconds she had the machine hooked to the patient,”
VonCannon said. “When the words “shock advised” appeared on the
screen, she knew this was a matter of life or death.”
By the time paramedics arrived at the school, the patient had
“After months of pain and doctors shrugging their shoulders,
regained consciousness and was speaking. Once Ms. Staton was in
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Union, a member of the Emergency Medical Services team came over
to speak to VonCannon.
Monroe Office
Waxhaw Office
“He told me in his 28 years, he had never seen anything like
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what he had witnessed in a school setting,” she said. “He said that
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the school personnel appeared to be a ‘medical team’ already on the
scene when the professionals arrived. Every detail of the Unionville
School medical plan was followed and carried out perfectly.”
“We are so thankful for the on-going required medical training that
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Union County Public Schools offers each year to school employees,”
VonCannon said. “Our friend and staff member is currently at CMSMain where she has been diagnosed with Ventricular Fibrillation. This
condition is sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).”
A nurse at CMC told VonCannon, “You ladies are amazing; no way
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would she be alive today without the shock and compressions.”
“Educators really need to take all medical training very seriously,”
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VonCannon said. “You never know when you may save a life as a
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result of the training.
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Every UCPS school has at least one AED on site, with school
personnel trained every two years.
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--This article was written by Unionville Elementary Principal Sharyn
VonCannon and provided courtesy of the Communications Office of
the Union County Public Schools.

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Parent Teacher Magazine • May/June 2015 • 9