A student-athlete at Locust Valley (N.Y.) High School collapsed during basketball team tryouts and was revived by quick-thinking coaches with an automatic external defibrillator.
According to Greater Long Island, the incident occurred only minutes into the practice, and the cause of the medical episode has not been released.
Assistant coach Brian Lorusso told ABC 7, “We started CPR and then we switched off on CPR. I went to go try to find the AED and then we attached the AED to the student.”
When first responders arrived to the scene, they were able to revive the student within two minutes before he was transported to the hospital.
"To walk into a pediatric cardiac arrest and have the patient talking to us within two minutes of being on scene -- in my career it's never happened before," paramedic Scott Sila said.
Following the incident, Locust Valley High School told ABC 7 that all coaches in New York State are trained in CPR and know how to use an AED. The school even provides that training to students, but moving forward, school leaders are ordering seven additional AEDs to increase accessibility in case of an emergency.
"This was the first time I had to, and I hope it's the last time," Lorusso said. "But in New York State as coaches, we go through rigorous training with it, and this is the reason why. It saves lives."
